Melody
by DreamCloudOne
Summary: When the moon shines bright over a crystalline sea, the Sirens come out to play; they sing their songs and hum their tunes, luring innocent travelors to their ultimate deaths. They feed on humans, taking them deep below the surface, never to be seen again. But not all Sirens are bad; Taeyeon wasn't. She hated killing humans. She hated her lifestyle. She wanted a change.
1. Prolouge

Chapter 1

**The Beginning**

Taeyeon shivered under the rough waves of the ocean, quiet tears streaming down her face. The ocean was shaking; it was hurting, like she was. The storm was hard on her scales as she pounded her flipper through the water, desperately trying to propel herself to the surface. To the surface, to freedom, to hope; she needed to escape.

She sniffed as the moonlight shone brighter and brighter through the waves ahead. Just a little bit more, and she'd be out. She'd be done with this stupid life.

Taeyeon couldn't take life as a siren anymore; she died inside every time she sang her melody and dragged a man under. She cried for the poor soul she had doomed, and prayed for his safe travels to that better place people told her about. Her heart clenched as she watched her friends and family devour his lifeless body. She couldn't do it anymore; despite having the most enticing, beautiful voice of all the sirens, she couldn't sing anymore. She just couldn't take having to kill more innocent people; so instead, she was running. Running from her heritage, running from the death, running from her own life.

Going to the surface was a sin; the Queen Siren Boa – her mentor – had told her terrible tales of unfortunate sirens that had gone to the surface. Eaten, sold, put in a small tank and experimented on, showcased as a freak of nature for all the humans to poke fun at; but she could handle all that. Anything would be better than having the guilty conscious of human blood on her hands.

She could see the rippling waves of the surface now; she clutched the sea-shell necklace her friends had made her and closed her eyes, giving one last kick of her fin.

Her head broke the surface, and a sweet wonderful taste entered her mouth; oxygen. The feeling was wonderful as it filtered into her lungs, and she took deep greedy breaths. The waves of the storm continued to pound over her head and submerge her, but it was child's play for her to return to the surface. Once she was certain she had her full of the wonderful oxygen, she gently propelled her fin towards a wondrous thing she'd only ever heard of; land.

It was amazing, and no description could properly give it justice; the sand was white here, not a murky dark brown. small cawing creatures were everywhere, and some took to the skies; what were they? Beyond the sand was a black rock like surface with yellow lines on it. And as far as she could see, tall green trees; trees! She'd never seen one before. Wanting to get a closer look, she pushed herself closer to the shore.

**"I know, right?"**

She froze in the waves and ducked under for a second, leaving her eyes over the surface. How could she miss the group of men sitting around that orange flickering light? She moved in closer and hid behind a tall rock, listening in on their conversation.

**"It's so stupid. He actually believes in mermaids! That Onew."**

**"I know, it's so idiotic. I believe in mermaids just as much as I believe in vampires."**

**"Please, at least vampires are somewhat realistic."**

Taeyeon listened to their weird chatter; was this the language humans spoke? It sounded so complicated. So unlike the clicks and chirps of the Siren language. She quickly became bored listening to the conversation she couldn't understand and decided to find some shelter for the night before Queen Boa sent a search party out for her. She hugged the rocks tightly and decided to follow them around the men and their orange light.

A little ways away, her eyes picked up a dark opening in the rock; a…cave, was it? Yes, a cave. She smiled to herself and released her wall, quickly pushing herself to the formation and hoisting herself into the sand.

The area was desolate, and she couldn't find any footprints, which told her that she was pretty safe from humans. Pulling herself across the rocks proved difficult, however; the sharp points scratched at her scales, and she knew that a few fell off; when she looked down, her blood stained the floor. Sighing, she grit her teeth and pushed forward, pulling herself into the safety of the cave.

After ten agonizing minutes of dragging, she finally propped herself onto the wall, under a small beam of moonlight in a crack above; her scales were bent, and she was coated in her own blood; she flinched at the sight and set a gentle hand on her wounds, smoothening her scales out.

A breeze passed through the cave; a shiver rippled down her spine. Why was it so cold above surface? The ocean was so much warmer and gentler than this horrid wind. Maybe this was what Queen Boa warned her about; the pain of the surface. She sighed and decided to endure the cold, mentally convincing herself that her life would get better if she lived on the surface. She dragged herself over to a pile of dried up abandoned seaweed that was brought in with the tide and tied it together, making a nice dress. Pleased with her work, she draped it over her head. It was a little better now. The cold wasn't so bad, and her scales were drying up; she yawned. The whole experience – swimming for hours to the surface, dragging herself over the painful rocks, weaving the seaweed dress – had exhausted her. With the left over seaweed, she made a makeshift bed and laid down, closing her eyes.

Tomorrow would be the start of her new life on land.

* * *

Onew woke up early; he just couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. With a sigh, he got up and changed into some board shorts and a sweater; maybe a quick walk could clear his mind.

He exited the small apartment he lived in for college and took a deep breath of the salty sea air. After the night's storm, the waves were calm, gently crashing along the shore, making a sweet noise that was pleasant to his ears. He crossed the street in a giant leap and arrived at the sandy beach, discarding his shoes and squeezing the sand between his toes. The wind hugged his face as he stepped closer to the water; it felt amazing. He smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the calmness of it all.

"Achoo!"

The quiet sneeze gathered his attention and his eyes snapped open, turning towards the rock wall on the far side of the beach. There was no one around, but he had definitely heard the sneeze; it was human. But there was no owner; shrugging, he played it off as his imagination and turned around, ready to go back to his apartment.

"Achoo!"

That time, he was positive he heard it. He changed his course path to the rock wall, his brows furrowing in confusion. Was someone hiding? He had just reached the formation when another sneeze reverberated from the wall. It was coming from behind it. But there was no way to get back there except to swim; who was sneezing, and how did that person get back there?

"Achoo!"

He bent down, looking around the wall for some sign of an opening. Just in the corner, he found a pile of small rocks stacked up on top of each other; with a gentle push, the rocks gave way to a small opening, just big enough for him to crawl through. He hesitated, but when another sneeze echoed off the formation, he settled his resolve and bent down, crawling through the small gap.

The sneezes were louder as he came to the other side; a strip of undisturbed beach lay waiting for him, leading into a huge cave. The sneezes seemed to be coming from inside. Curiously, he crept his way towards the mouth of the cave.

A trail of blood caked the rocks, and he instantly started to worry about whoever was inside. His pace quickened as he stepped into the cave, using a hand on the wall as a guide. Another sneeze echoed off the walls, and as his eyes adjusted, he finally found the owner.

A beautiful young woman was sitting in a small patch of sunlight, wrapped tightly in a bundle of seaweed and hugging herself. Her hair was long but silky in the sun, a dark brown color with light waves. Her legs – which stuck out awkwardly underneath the seaweed – were scabbed over with many scratches; which explains the blood. she looked up to him in alarm as he stepped forward.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked her, stepping closer. The girl made a clicking noise with her tongue and shook her head fearfully, scooting backwards awkwardly. He paused and held his hands up above his head in surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured gently, crouching down and extending a hand towards her, like he was calling a puppy. The girl didn't seem like she knew what she was doing; her looks were strange, and her actions were awkward; everything about her intrigued Onew. She was wearing seaweed, sitting in a cave with scrapes all over her legs. Why wasn't she calling for help?

"Come on, I can help you," he said with a gentler voice, curling his fingers in an attempt to call her forward. She hesitated, then turned towards him.

The girl timidly dragged herself closer to him using her hands; her legs didn't seem to work. He sat patiently as she slid herself across the cave. Questions exploded in his mind, but he kept them at bay and focused on the task at hand. This girl needed serious help.

Tentatively, about a foot away, the girl lifted a hand and slowly placed it against his outstretched one. In response, he gently curled his hands around her fingers; they were freezing.

"What's your name?" he asked her, rubbing her hand to put warmth in it. She sighed delightfully, but ignored him.

"What's your name?" he repeated, a little bit louder. She looked at him and frowned, shaking her head.

She didn't understand what he was saying? What was this girl? Onew was stumped. He had just discovered a drop-dead gorgeous brunette in a cave, injured – possibly paralyzed – with a speech impediment. What were the odds?

He took her other hand and scooted a bit closer, rubbing warmth into it. The girl sighed contently.

"Ok…where are you from?" he asked in English. The girl shook her head again. Onew tried all the languages he knew; she didn't speak anything. With a quiet groan, he sat back and studied her.

"Well, what am I supposed to do with you? You don't speak Korean, you can't walk…" he grumbled, stripping off his sweater and handing it to her. She stared at the clothing in confusion. "…And you don't even know what clothes are, apparently."

He helped her slide the hoodie over her head and pulled her arms through. In response, she made a cheerful dolphin like squeal, clapping her hands; Onew couldn't help but chuckle. The girl was cute, he's say that much.

"What are you?" he asked, more to himself. The girl stopped clapping and smiled brightly, grabbing his hand. She made another clicking sound with her tongue. He chuckled and looked at her legs again.

"I need to get her cuts cleaned before she gets an infection…" he mumbled to himself, standing up. Her eyes followed him, cautious again.

"Don't worry, I just need to take you out there," he said slowly, pointing to the mouth of the cave. The sun streamed through the opening, warm and inviting. "And clean these." He said, gently grazing the cuts on her legs. She flinched, but nodded, understanding.

He made sure to move slowly, so as not to scare her as he bent down and wrapped his arms around her, carrying her bridal style. The girl yelped and clung onto him tightly in response burrowing her head into his chest. He laughed.

When he stepped out into the sunlight, she came out of her little ball and stared up at the sky, surprised. Had she never seen the sun before either? This girl was full of surprises.

He gently set her down on a rock and watched her legs fall helplessly. She really didn't have control over them. "Can you walk?" he asked her, trying to emphasize the movement by pacing in front of her. She seemed to understand because she frowned and shook her head sadly.

"Ok…well, anyway, my name," he said, pointing to himself, "Is Onew. Onew."

The girl wrapped her mind around the name. "O…new."

When he nodded, she broke out into a huge smile and wrapped her arms around him. He chuckled and hugged her back just to amuse her. When the girl pulled away, however, she did the most unexpected thing.

She kissed him.

Square on the mouth, just a quick, gentle lip-lock. Onew stumbled back, flabbergasted, as the girl threw her arms into the air. His whole body tingled after the kiss, and he felt something strange in his chest; it was a strange feeling. He also felt suddenly strong, like his energy suddenly became unlimited.

"Onew!" She shouted joyously, pointing at him. Then she moved her hand to point to herself. "Taeyeon!"

He shook the kiss from his mind, calling it just a figment of his imagination. "Your name is Taeyeon?"

"Taeyeon! Onew!"

"Ok, Taeyeon. Let's get you home."

Sorry about this...it's kind of just a filler chapter. It's just here to describe their past, how they met. this chapter sucks, but I promise that everything else will be amazing! :) 


	2. Introducing the Lee family

Chapter 2

**Introducing the Lee Family**

"Yuri, please go wake your brothers up for me."

A beautiful twenty year old woman looked up from her book, soft tendrils of black hair falling over her shoulder. She smiled at her mother and nodded, cramming a sticky-note into the book to save her spot before proceeding upstairs. She took no detours as she went straight for the door at the end of the hall, opening it to find a large and tidy room with nothing but a king-sized bed and a study desk inside. A lump was balled up in the center of the bed, and as Yuri approached it, it twitched; she smiled and pounced on the moving lump.

The person beneath her let out a high-pitched shrill scream, squirming under her weight; she laughed and got up, pulling the covers off to reveal her older brother.

Kim Jonghyun – who, like his younger brother Kibum, took their mother's last name – glared at his one and only younger sister, who rolled her eyes playfully. He was just as gorgeous as anyone else in the family; soft brown hair, gentle brown eyes, and a flawless complexion. He had the muscular build that drove girls wild, as well as the charm and personality.

Yuri grabbed his hands and pulled, trying unsuccessfully to get her brother out of bed. "Come on, Jjong! We have to go to school!"

Jonghyun growled. "I don't want to." he pouted childishly. Yuri rolled her eyes and let go, watching as he fell back into bed.

"Umma told me to wake you up, so get up! I'm going to go wake up Key and Taemin, and when I come back, you'd better be ready!" she threatened, wagging her finger at her older brother. He waved her off as she left.

The door directly to her right had a pink nameplate with stars around it that read in big block curly letters, 'KEY'. She went in right away, finding her younger brother combing his hair at his vanity.

"Morning, Noona," he greeted, styling his bangs. Kim Kibum, or Key, as everyone called him, took more from their father's side rather than their mother's. He had a gentler face that his older brother, but the same brown hair and eyes. His build wasn't as tough, but rather, he was a more huggable being.

Yuri gave him a hug from behind. "Good morning, Key. Breakfast is downstairs, Umma made our favorite."

Key smiled. "Thanks, Yul. I'll be down in a minute."

Yuri nodded, leaving. The last brother, their baby Maknae, was in the room right next to hers. She went in to find him sitting on his bed, singing.

"_To dareul sarangeul hal sudo itdago nan midosoneunde_

_Gaseum ane noneun naginchorom jiul suga obso_

_Otoke…" _**(A/N: the lyrics are to Taemin's part in the song 'Romantic'**)

She gave him gentle applause and he turned to her alarmed. When he realized it was just his sister, he smiled.

"Morning, Yuri Noona!" he chirped cheerfully. She skipped over to him and gave his hair a good ruffle before sitting beside him.

"Aigoo, baby Tae is such an amazing singer," she cooed. Taemin blushed and pushed her away, embarrassed.

"I'm not as good as Noona or Hyungs," he mumbled.

Lee Taemin was the baby of the family; everyone couldn't help but love him. He had a special charm to him, especially in the way he smiled; his smiles could melt your heart. He had unnatural blonde hair and brown eyes, and he looked adorable no matter what he did. Taemin never speaks outside of their beach-side mansion, but when he sings, even the birds would stop to listen.

"Nonsense, Tae-baby. You sing just as good as we do," Yuri murmured, giving him a hug. He returned it wholeheartedly.

"Now, Umma's downstairs. She made breakfast," she told him. He brightened at the mention of food and was off. Yuri smiled and shook her head as she returned to Jonghyun's room, finding her favorite brother in a sleepy stupor, trying to button up his shirt. Yuri giggled.

"Come on, Jjong. We have to go," she coaxed as he buttoned up the last button. He grumbled in response but allowed his sister to pull him downstairs.

Yuri took her seat at the dining table, welcoming the giant plate of bacon, ham, and diced tuna. She ate slowly and enjoyed each bite, unlike her brothers; they were scarfing down everything, and she was pretty sure Taemin was on his second plate already. She rolled her eyes as their father wobbled down the stairs, slipping on the last step and falling to his butt.

"Gah, Onew. Come on," their Umma, Kim Taeyeon, said in a rush, picking her husband up and helping him to the table. He smiled apologetically.

Taeyeon rolled her eyes playfully before confiscating Taemin's plate and setting it in front of their Appa. Taemin began to protest, but one look from his Umma and he was off upstairs. Taeyeon sighed before turning to her remaining children and her husband.

"Have you told him yet?" she asked in a whisper. Everyone shook their heads. Yuri sighed.

"Why can't we tell him, Umma?" she asked. Taeyeon shook her head.

"He just learned how to speak, Yul. We can't tell him until he starts talking to others, or else he might go into shock and lose his beautiful voice again."

_He should still know he's a Siren_, Yuri thought hopelessly. She finished her food and placed her plate in the kitchen, heading back upstairs to brush her hair.

She studied herself as she sat in front of the mirror, gently running the brush through her silky smooth black hair. Her eyes were glowing today under the light makeup she brushed on her cheeks, and her complexion was perfect – as it always was. She smiled slightly and shook her hair out.

Right on time, Key stepped into her room, curling iron in hand; everyday, Key put her hair up, making sure that she looked absolutely adorable at school. She smiled as he approached.

"So what kind of hairstyle are we going for today?" he asked, before checking her outfit. "Maybe a little side pony, with a few loose curls. And clip your bands back."

She nodded mindlessly as he began; weaving the brush through her hair, gently pulling it up and into the perfect up-do. Without really realizing it, Yuri began to hum to herself; Key joined in, and they smiled to each other.

A few seconds later, her hair was finished; she smile as she stared at the perfection in the mirror before hugging her brother again.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure Jonghyun Hyung is waiting for us, so we'd better go," he commented, checking his watch. She nodded before grabbing her things and following him out the door.

"Bye Umma! Bye Appa!" she called before slamming the door shut and running to the small car waiting for her.

"I hate school. Why does it start so early?" Jonghyun groaned, taking his anger out on the road. He sped off onto the road, going far over the speed limit.

"You're the one who decided to sign up for morning classes," Key pointed out, reading a fashion magazine in the front seat.

"Why didn't you talk me out of it?"

"How was I supposed to know you'd regret it later? I can't see the future!"

"Jonghyun Hyung, you wanted to have more time after school to goof around instead of sleep in all morning. You told me," Taemin quipped. Jonghyun quieted for a moment before sighing.

"Damn. I did say that," he grumbled before pulling into the school's parking lot and speeding to a nice spot close to the main gates. He nearly killed a poor girl and ultimately stole the space from a freshman, but they didn't really care. Yuri and Taemin's voices shut off, while Jonghyun put on a pair of sunglasses. Key immediately hopped out and waved to a group of people, joining them. Taemin quietly went after his brother.

"Hey Yul, want to take the long way to class? We're early anyway," Jonghyun asked, smirking. Yuri knew exactly what he was planning to do, but knew she couldn't do or say anything to stop him; with a resigned sigh, she nodded and followed him out.

The people in their path parted to let them pass; they all stopped to admire their unnatural beauty. Jonghyun smiled cockily and started to whistle; Yuri watched in disgust as girls around them began to swoon, falling under his hypnotic spell. She elbowed her brother harshly and gave him a look, but he only started to whistle louder. More girls began to squeal and sigh as he passed; thy finally stopped in front of a small sophomore with a heart-shaped face.

"Sorry, honey, but it's over between us," Jonghyun said briskly as soon as he stopped in front of her. The girl's smile fell and she stared at him.

"Yeah, that's right, I'm breaking up with you. It's over," Jonghyun repeated, turning on his heel. Yuri bowed apologetically to the girl – who had just started to break down in tears – before punching her brother's shoulder.

"You're such an ass!" she whispered. Jonghyun smiled and threw an arm over her shoulder, hugging his little sister.

"I know, but you love me."

"Only because You're my favorite brother, but that can change," she hissed back, but she let him lead her to class. "Why do you abuse our power?"

"Well, I've been given a gift. Might as well share it with the world, right?" he answered cockily, winking at a girl nearby. Her whole face turned red.

"But you're hurting so many people," Yuri whispered back.

Jonghyun frowned, his expression darkening. "If they can't handle the beauty of my voice, then they shouldn't be listening."

Yuri shook her head in disdain. Jonghyun's thought process was a little bit different from her brothers and herself. He believed that humans only fell under the hypnosis because they wanted to listen, wanted to die. He was waiting for the day when a girl would refuse him; and as such, he would court every girl he could see, and when they bored him, he dumped them. Every day he would sing his songs in the hallway and draw in a new victim. To Yuri, it was a terrible sin; their powers weren't supposed to be used like that.

However, the look on Jonghyun's face told her not to argue. "Ok, ok. I guess you're right."

Jonghyun smiled and gave her shoulder a tight squeeze. "That's my baby Yul. Come on, let's get ready to _learn_." He sneered. She laughed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, Key was sitting in the school's cafeteria with Taemin and a few of his human friends. He watched in mild irritation as his best friend ordered practically everything on the menu, talking animatedly with the waiter who was obviously flirting with her. The mere thought made his blood boil.

"Ok, Sooyoung, seriously. That's enough," Nicole said gently, sending a look to her partner. "You don't want to get fat."

"Shut up, Nicole. I have a high metabolism. It won't stick," the other girl said brightly, turning away from the waiter. Key smirked victoriously as he walked away, dejected. He turned back to his two friends, in a noticeably happier mood.

Nicole was one of Key's closer friends. She was a bit of a diva, much like himself, with short brown hair and questioning brown eyes. She acted like a princess most of the time, but overall, she was a pleasant person to be around. Of course, that was before she started to flirt with him. Then it just started to get weird.

Sooyoung was Key's best friend and neighbor. She knew all of his secrets (except his biggest one, of course) and practically became joined at his hip; not that Key minded. She was a very happy-go-lucky type of person with a violent streak and a weakness for food. For a human, she was pretty beautiful; with long dark brown hair and warm brown eyes, a tall, stick-like figure and a clear complexion. Key had started to like her during freshman year; his infatuation never properly died.

Taemin made a very quiet cough that only Key could hear; he turned to his brother and allowed him to lean into his ear to whisper something.

"Why are they fighting?" Taemin asked in a quiet voice. Key shrugged.

"I don't know. I zoned out," he replied, turning his attention back to his female friends. Sooyoung turned to him, slamming her hands down on the table.

"KEY! Tell Nicole that I am most definitely not a fatty!" she whined, jerking a finger at her female friend, glaring menacingly at her. Nicole rolled her eyes and sat back, exasperated.

"I never said you were fat, Soo! I just said that you _will_ get fat if you continue those eating habits – "

"Well _excuse me_ for not wanting to eat that rabbit food." Sooyoung glowered at the salad Nicole was picking at.

_When did the food get here?_Key thought to himself as Taemin took a sip of his banana milk quietly. Sooyoung shoveled a giant bite of cheesecake into her mouth, chewing it roughly in Nicole's face. He chuckled; how were these two friends?

"Sooyoung, that is _disgusting_!" Nicole screeched, pushing the taller girl away. She swallowed the large bite and laughed victoriously.

"I am not fat, nor will I ever get fat! Admit it!" she shouted.

"God, Sooyoung, Nicole! I don't get you two!" Key shouted at last, chuckling. "Sooyoung, everyone knows you eat like a pig but don't gain weight. But Nicole is right, and you shouldn't push your limits."

Sooyoung pouted and stuck her tongue out at him; Nicole smiled triumphantly and raised her hand for a high-five. He gladly gave her one.

"You're supposed to be on my side, Key. I feel so betrayed," Sooyoung grumbled, taking another bite from her cheesecake.

Key rolled his eyes. "As your best friend, it's my duty to _never_ be on your side."

Nicole laughed at the two and soon Sooyoung joined in. Key released a chuckle of his own. He most certainly couldn't understand his siblings and their fear of human friendship – why wouldn't they make friends with humans? They were such entertaining creatures! Even Taemin seemed to agree; he was smiling from ear to ear, trying hard to hold back his laughter.

"TAEMIN!"

Taemin looked up in alarm and silently groaned before burrowing into Key's shoulder. It was those two again; those two girls that tried so desperately hard to get him to talk. Why couldn't they understand that he didn't want to? That because he had just recently gained his voice, he was afraid of what people would think when they heard it? That maybe people would single him out from the family as the only Lee sibling without a perfect voice? He knew something weird happened to people when his siblings sang; did the same thing happen when he did?

"Taemin, oh my gosh, we finally found you! Come on, class is about to start!" one of them shouted, literally pulling Key out of his seat to grab Taemin's arm. As he was being pulled away, he sent a desperate look towards his brother; he only smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Jeez, Tae. I thought you were punctual on time," the taller girl on his right mumbled. The one pulling him nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, Taemin. Class is going to start in five minutes, what were you thinking?" she said, wrapping her arm around his tighter and quickening her pace.

"I mean, I know you love your brother and all –" the tall one started.

"But I think attending class is more important –" the dragger continued.

"Then family right now." The tall on finished. They both giggled as they pulled him into their classroom and into a seat sandwiched between the two.

Taemin felt like crying; these two, although their company was nice, were ruthless. Yoona and Sulli; best friends since birth, they were practically twins. They thought alike, moved alike, even looked alike. On the first day of school, when they learned that Taemin couldn't speak, they made it their goal in life to help him find his voice. Of course, there were times when they were pleasant and could carry a nice conversation – written on paper, for him – but most of the time, they were just pure evil.

He sighed dejectedly and retrieved a notebook and pen from his messenger bag, hell bent on ignoring the two girls and focusing on the lesson; but naturally, Yoona and Sulli wouldn't have it.

Yoona poked Taemin's shoulder. "Have you found your voice yet?"

When he shook his head, Sulli continued. "Have you been trying?"

He shook his head again, gritting his teeth. It wasn't that he hated them, he just hated their constant questioning; how he wished that he could just scream at them and tell them that he didn't want anyone to hear his voice. But that would be defeating the purpose.

"Come on, Taemin, you have to at least try!" Yoona whispered.

Taemin quickly jotted down a small sentence and passed his notebook to her; so much for taking notes on the lesson.

"What's is say, Yoonie?" Sulli whispered excitedly. Yoona passed the notebook to her.

"Didn't you just say that class was more important than friends or family? Why aren't you two paying attention?" Sulli read out loud. She shared a look with Yoona and they both burst into quiet giggles.

"We said class was more important than family, not friends. I mean, we are your friends, right, Tae?" Sulli asked.

Taemin looked between the two, who were both giving him desperate puppy-dog pouts. He sighed before nodding dejectedly. Yes, they were his friends. Annoying friends, but friends none the less.

"Yeah!" they both whisper shouted, high-fiving over his head. Taemin sighed. It was going to be a long lesson.

* * *

Jonghyun leaned back in his chair, bored out of his mind. He didn't have the slightest clue what class he was even in at the moment, let alone what the professor was going on about. Yuri was vigorously taking notes down next to him, so to entertain himself, he stared at the girl next to him until she grew so flustered she began to twitch. He chuckled to himself and began to hum; a soft gentle tune that didn't carry very far, but managed to grasp every female's attention, even Yuri's. Yuri however, unlike all the gaping, sighing girls, looked irritated.

"Why don't you try to pay attention for once?" she whisper hissed, rolling her eyes. Jonghyun shrugged.

"What class are we in?" he asked her. She gave him a look. "No, seriously. What class are we in?"

"Jonghyun!" she scolded, smacking him. He winced away from her. "We're in calculus, stupid!"

Oh. No wonder he wasn't paying attention.

Heeding his sister's words, he stopped humming and actually tried to make sense of the lesson; but after five minutes of complete nonsense, he grew bored again. His mind hatched an idea; his professor was female, was she not? Of course, he was going to get in major trouble with Yuri, but his boredom was going to kill him. Smirking devilishly, he opened his mouth and began to sing; not a quiet tone, but loud enough to resonate throughout the room. He chose a soft, gentle love ballad and watched in glee as the Professor slowly broke off from her train of thought and stopped talking all together. The girls in the room all looked to him and sighed heavenly. The few guys in the room looked around in confusion, becoming fixated on Jonghyun.

Yuri –as expected – was livid. She glowered at him with all the anger she could muster and slapped him hard across the face, ending his song. He turned to her and grinned as the teacher came to her senses and tried unsuccessfully to take control of the lesson again.

"Kim Jonghyun, you are an asshole!" Yuri shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. They all turned to the siblings in shock and confusion, most of the girls still a little delusional. Yuri blushed deeply and sat down, making sure to elbow Jonghyun harshly in the ribs.

The siblings pretended that nothing had happened, and soon, order came back to the classroom as the professor cleared her head and continued her lesson. Jonghyun chuckled under his breath every few seconds, and Yuri continued to glare and ignore him. When the lesson finally ended, she packed her things in steely silence and brushed by him.

Jonghyun, hurt, quickly gave chase, carelessly throwing his things into his messenger bag and grabbing her hand. She turned and glared at him.

"I'm sorry, Yul!" he cried, pouting. Yuri turned away with a humph, pulling away from her brother. Jonghyun frowned and ran up to her again, hugging her from behind. The people in the crowded hallway watched greedily.

"Yuri, I'm so, so,_so_ sorry. I'll never do it again, I promise! Please forgive me!" he whined. Yuri squirmed in his grasp, but eventually gave in and gently pried his fingers away from her.

"Fine, fine, fine! Jjong, I forgive you. But I'm holding you to that promise to never do it again!" she allowed, and Jonghyun grinned, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

"Yay! I love you, Yul-baby!" he cooed, pinching her cheek. Yuri jerked away.

This was why Jonghyun loved his sister. She was his favorite out his younger siblings, and he didn't know what he'd do without her. Yuri was quick to forgive, and always stuck to his argument. She kept him under control and helped him maintain a somewhat level-headed attitude towards life, despite his playboy ways. There was also the fact that Yuri was the only girl that could truly reject his advances.

"Here's my stop. I'll see you at lunch, ok Jjong?" Yuri sighed, unwrapping herself from his hold. She gave him a pointed look, warning him not sing again. He nodded and held his hands up in surrender.

"I'll see you at lunch, Yul," he agreed. She waved and proceeded alone into her anatomy class.

Jonghyun made a promise to never sing in class again; but who said he was going to class?

Jonghyun had lived 75 of his human years underwater, and 125 above; meaning that he had gone through college more times than he could count. He didn't need to take classes anymore; he knew everything there was to offer in the human world, and sitting in a class listening to a lecture he'd heard countless times before was unbearable. He waltzed right by the classroom he was supposed to be heading into and went for the school's garden, a hotspot for a lot of young girls on campus. Along the way, he hummed to himself in a cheerful way.

Unfortunately, his plans were ruined when he found the garden completely empty; he figured that all the girls were in their classes, especially because the day was so nice. Cursing his luck, he decided to go searching for a different place that was populated by girls, but was stopped by a singing voice.

"_Noonan nomu yehpuh_

_Geu geunyuhreul boneun naneun michyuh_

_Ha hajiman ijehn jichyuh_

_Replay, replay, replay…"_

"Key?"

His brother turned around, wide eyed and alarmed, but relaxed when he saw Jonghyun. "Hey, Jjong. Ditching class again?"

Jonghyun sat down on the bench next to him, grinning. The girls could wait. "Like I'm the only one."

Key grinned. "Well, when you've been in college for hundred years, it gets kind of boring."

Jonghyun rolled his eyes. "_I know. _I die inside whenever I come to school."

"You know we have to keep it up. For Taemin's sake. He's the only reason why we can't go back to the ocean."

"I know that." Jonghyun grumbled. He loved Taemin to bits, but everything would have been much easier if they could just return to sea; ever since he was born, they devoted themselves to life on land. Taemin's muteness was unnatural for a Siren, half-human or not. He just wasn't half-siren without his voice. It took him a hundred years, but when he finally found his voice, Jonghyun thought their lives would take a turn for the better. But then their mother told them to continue as normal, until Taemin opened up. Jonghyun had patience, but after a hundred and twenty-five years, it was running a little thin.

"We can't let him find out. It would crush him." Key mused. He looked out at the flowers if the garden. "we've even built it into his mind that he's an aqua phobic."

"I know."

"Just hold on a bit longer, ok? Taemin will be one of us soon."

Jonghyun sighed again. "I know."

Key was probably the most patient with Taemin in the family. While Jonghyun, Yuri, and their parents tried to coax Taemin to speak, Key told him that he could take his time, and was gentle and nice towards their youngest sibling. He read to him, taught him how to write, and stuck by his side throughout his many years of college. Key was the one who told Taemin that he wasn't fully human – that he was something more, and because Key told him in his gentle, nurturing way, Taemin accepted it wholeheartedly and asked no questions. Key was always trying to get Taemin to open up more as well; he was the one who enlisted Yoona and Sulli's help, and though the process was slow, Taemin was getting better.

"How is your master plan coming along?" Jonghyun asked.

"The one with Sulli and Yoona? I'm pretty sure it's coming along great. Taemin described them to me as _friends_ the other day," Key said, smiling. "And I've been bringing Sooyoung along whenever he sticks with me. He hasn't spoken much to Soo yet, but he'll speak soon. I can feel it."

"Which reminds me, how's your human crush on Sooyoung?" Jonghyun said offhandedly. Key's smile immediately fell and a blush stained his cheeks.

"It's fine. Don't tease me again, Jonghyun. You wouldn't understand, since you have more Siren blood than I do," he hissed. Jonghyun laughed, giving his little brother a noogie.

"I'm just messing with you, Key. You know that."

Key smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. Aren't you late for girl hunting?"

Jonghyun smirked and patted Key's head, lifting himself off of the bench and smiling. "Yes, I am; thank you for reminding me, Key."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to stay here for a while."

"See you."

Jonghyun left his brother alone in the garden again and a few seconds later, Key's siren song filled the garden; despite having more human blood than he did, Key was still half-siren. His gentle tone was so beautiful only a Siren could make it.

Jonghyun chuckled and set his sights on more girl hot-spots. The roof, the home-economics classroom, the auditorium; the roof seemed like a god place to go, since Yuri wouldn't look for him up there, and girls liked the feel of the breeze. He pulled his sunglasses on and shoved his hands into his pockets, making his way through the main building and up the stairs. After three flights, he finally came to the door to the roof; smiling as he pushed it open, he prepared to unleash a soft and hypnotic love ballad that was sure to send girls under.

Only to find the tune choking him as he came face to face with a beautiful brunette singing a tender lullaby.

* * *

Ok, I lied. This chapter was also a little boring, but I wanted to show the bond the siblings had with each other. and I'll bet anyone can guess who the beautiful brunette is. :P 


	3. Siren's Song

Chapter 3

Jessica Jung wasn't happy with her life in Korea. She was miserable; her whole high school experience was filled with ridicule and teasing, and every day she would come home in tears. She ended up secluding herself, hiding behind glasses and oversized sweaters, never speaking.

Speech. It was what brought her down. Her words were never pronounced right, and she still suffered from lack of understanding; certain word combinations only drew a blank in her mind, and she'd always find herself out of the loop, confused and frustrated. She hated her lack of speaking ability.

She hated her father for forcing her to come out to Korea; to move away from her mother, her sister, her friends. She had to start life over; learning a new language, a new culture, a brand new lifestyle. She had to make new friends, cope with her new struggles, and make it through college; the past six years of her life had only been hell.

She walked through the college hallways with her head held down, a pair of thick rimmed glasses hiding her face. Her bangs hung in her face like a curtain, hiding her face from view. People passed by her without notice, as always. She sighed to herself and bit her lip as she proceeded to class.

She slipped into her classroom and quietly took a seat at the back of the lecture hall, as far away from the professor as possible to make sure that she wouldn't be called upon. She glared at passersby from beneath her glasses and tried to focus.

Despite her greatest effort to pay attention, she just couldn't; she could only pick up the simple Korean words flowing from her professor's lips, and the more complex ones floated in the air around her head. _What_? She found herself repeating. When the lecture ended, she wanted to scream. Nothing went into her head. She hated this place!

Angrily, she picked up her things and power walked into the hall, pushing through the crowd as roughly as possible to get her anger out. Why couldn't she live in peace in America? She missed her mother and Krystal like none other. Were they missing her?

Her mindless stampede brought her up three flights of stairs and in front of a red door; curiously, she opened it.

She had absentmindedly wandered all the way to the roof. It was a wide area with a tall fence surrounding the edges, making sure no student desperate enough to commit suicide could actually go through with the act. Potted plants lined the fence, and a few flowers were in bloom as well. Four reclining chairs were placed in the center of the open area, surrounding a table. There were benches spread out along the entire surface, and a vending machine stood by the wall.

Jessica's anger vanished and was replaced with awe as she took in her surroundings. How could she have not known of this place? It was beautiful; a light breeze played with her hair, and the air tasted salty, like the nearby ocean.

She took tentative steps toward the fence, looking around to make sure no one was around. When she wrapped her fingers around the metal and looked out, she was welcomed with an amazing view of the beach; the gentle waves, the surfers, even the small children building sandcastles. The water glowed a light translucent blue in the sunlight, and Jessica mused that if she had a camera, it would be the perfect shot.

Jessica thought for a moment and decided to skip her next class; it would only frustrate her again anyway, and she wanted to stay on the roof and stare out at the beach. She didn't know how long she had been standing there, holding the fence, but after a while, she started to sing; no one was around to hear her anyway.

"_Your beautiful eyes stare right into mine,_

_And sometimes I think of you late at night_

_I don't know why…"_

Jessica actually had a lovely singing voice; but since there was never anyone around to hear it, she didn't really know. She just liked to sing. She didn't care if she was good or bad, just as long as she enjoyed doing it. And in that moment, watching the waves crash along the beach, she was really enjoying herself.

_"You're here your eyes are looking into mine_

_So baby make me fly_

_My heart has never felt this way before_

_I'm looking into your, I'm looking in your eyes…"_

"Ahem."

Jessica squeaked and turned around, covering her mouth, only to come face to face with Kim Jonghyun. _The_ Kim Jonghyun. Her heart started to stutter erratically as blood rushed to her face. Why did it have to be Kim Jonghyun? Of all the thousands of people in the school, why did it have to be him? She ducked her head down as he smiled.

"You have a lovely voice," he said earnestly, taking a few short strides closer to her. She yelped and sidestepped away.

Jessica felt like dying. Of all the people in the world, Kim Jonghyun came to the roof. Even worse, he heard her _singing_. She suddenly wished that the fence behind her didn't exist and she could plummet to her death. Her face was burning with embarrassment as she turned away from him, mentally praying that he'd leave her alone.

She didn't really know what she had against Jonghyun; it was just that whenever she saw his face, she automatically swerved in the opposite direction. There was something about him that told her to stay away; she didn't know what, but it was an instinct in the pit of her stomach. She didn't trust his seductive smile or alluring winks; he had a secret of some kind, and she was in no hurry to learn what it was.

But she never really paid much attention to him before she heard his voice; his sexy, gentle, hypnotic voice. The moment the tune rang in her ears, she felt like she was walking in a trance; her eyes only saw Jonghyun through the crowd of girls, and her mind became foggy. She couldn't understand what was happening to her in that moment but when she finally came to halfway into his song, she vowed to keep at least ten feet in between them.

But Jonghyun didn't know that rule.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked her, taking a seat in one of the reclining chairs besides her. He was definitely too close for comfort.

Jessica avoided his gaze and looked towards her only hope, the door. "I could ask you the same thing."

Jonghyun grinned. "I didn't want to go to class."

Jessica took a baby step towards the door. "Ditto."

She assumed that the conversation ended at that, and decided that it was the perfect time to make her escape. She turned stiffly on her heel and took long strides to the door – but she only got two steps in before coming to a screeching halt, right beside him.

"What's your name?" he asked, cocking his head to the side and smiling at her. A shiver traveled down her spine as she locked eyes with him. He was too close, much too close; her fingers were inches away from his shoulder.

"Jessica." She told him stiffly, like a robot. He nodded.

"I'm Jonghyun. It's nice to meet you Jessica. Are you from the states?"

Why was he trying to converse with her when she was obviously so uncomfortable? "Yeah, I'm from California. I moved to Korea when I was a Freshman in High School."

"Oh cool. I've been to California before, but I left the same day. Not much of a vacation," he told her, chuckling. She smiled awkwardly and took another step towards the door.

"What were you singing earlier? It was in English."

Jessica wanted to groan and slap him. _LET ME LEAVE!_ She thought, irritated. "It's called Beautiful Eyes, by Taylor Swift. It's not a really popular song."

"Hmm."

Jessica didn't hesitate to stride towards the door at the pause; it was the perfect moment to make her exit. She smiled when her hands clasped the doorknob. She could finally escape.

"_O, gochin salme sideurogal tae_

_Geudaega naege dagawa_

_Orobuteun geu maeume soneul daen sungan_

_Naye salmeun sijak dwaeseumeul …"_

Jessica's defense system sky-rocketed at the first note; he was singing._He was singing_. She felt her fingertips turn to mush as she tried to open the door. Her heart pounded mercilessly against her chest and she closed her eyes, trying desperately hard to focus as a hazy fog entered her mind.

When Jonghyun stopped singing, she relaxed; her fingers unclenched the door handle, which she realized she had been squeezing with all her might. With a flick of her wrist she turned it and pulled it open, ready to leave.

"Hey Jessica, will you go out with me?" he asked her from behind.

She turned to him and dared herself to make eye contact; when she did, she instantly regretted it. His eyes were so captivating, so deep; so hypnotic. She shook her head. No. She made eye contact again, her expression cold, and gave him a fake smile.

"No Thank you."

And she left him standing there, dumbstruck, staring at the door as it swung closed.

* * *

"Hey Yul, do you know a Jessica?"

That was certainly unexpected; Yuri was currently sitting at her usual lunch table with Taemin, Key, Yoona, Sulli, and Sooyoung when Jonghyun came over, asking such a random question. She set her Tuna sandwich down and scooted over, giving him room to sit down.

"_I_ know a Jessica. Why do you ask?" Key quipped.

Jonghyun looked honestly troubled as he twirled his thumbs around. He released a groan and slouched against the table. "She's the first person that's ever rejected me."

Key and Sooyoung burst out laughing while Taemin smiled. Yoona politely covered her mouth as she bit her lip in an attempt to hold her laughter in, and she elbowed Sulli, who had decided to hide behind a book and laugh quietly. Yuri was the only one who seemed genuinely worried as Jonghyun glowered at his siblings and their friends.

"Wait, Jessica Jung? She's in our English class," Sooyoung asked when she finally caught her breath. "She's the best in the class, since she came from the states."

Jonghyun brightened. "That's her! Tell me, what is she like?"

Sooyoung shared a look with Key, both of them getting serious. Yoona and Sulli however, continued their quiet giggling as they whispered to each other. "She's not very talkative. She never says anything really, unless the professor asks her to."

"Go on," Jonghyun urged.

"She's ice cold and has a bit of a mean streak. People usually avoid her," Sooyoung added.

"That sounds like her," Jonghyun sighed again, leaning into his hand and taking a small corner off of Taemin's tuna sandwich.

"So Jjong finally found a girl worth having, huh?" Key teased. Jonghyun could practically read his mind; this was revenge for all the times he'd teased him about his crush on Sooyoung.

"Shut up, Key. She just bothers me," he grumbled. Yuri passed him her pizza and watched with a frown as he devoured it.

"She will give in eventually, I know it. No one can really resist…_you know what_," he sighed quietly, so only Yuri and Key could hear. The siblings shared a look.

"Jjong, she's not a prize to be won. She's a human being," Key chided gently, so as not to set his brother's temper off. Jonghyun only shrugged the comment away.

"Weren't you the one that said 'If they can't handle the beauty of my voice, then they shouldn't be listening'? Maybe Jessica isn't listening. Maybe she doesn't want to listen," Yuri added.

Jonghyun only pouted childishly and sat back, crossing his arms. Of course she wanted to listen; she stopped at the door on the roof to listen, and only turned to him when he finished his song. Jonghyun knew that she was under his spell, but unlike any other girl, she knew how to break free; how was that even possible? No human could ever properly escape a Siren's call. Yet, Jessica was doing exactly that.

"Jessica Jung, huh?" he chuckled under his breath. "You're the only one that's ever turned away from my song."

Key and Yuri exchanged looks and promptly decided to change the subject; besides, Taemin was getting suspicious across from them. "So Tae, has Sooyoung been tutoring you in Japanese? I bet she isn't even that great of a tutor."

Taemin smiled while Sooyoung dropped her food, punching him – hard – in the shoulder with a hurt expression. The best distraction in the world was an angry Sooyoung. "I take offence to that! Let me remind you who helped you ace that final last year!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, right. I have to go thank Professor Aoki," he joked. Sooyoung punched him again, harder this time.

"Jerk! I'm the one who spent that whole week cramming with you! Besides, I'll have you know that Taemin and Yoona here have gone one full letter grade higher since I began teaching them," she boasted. Yoona snapped back into the conversation at her name and nodded.

"Yeah, she's a great teacher. Right, Taemin?" she said. Taemin smiled and nodded at Sooyoung, who sat up triumphantly, poking Key's now bruised shoulder.

"See? Even your brother agrees. And I know that if Taemin agrees, you agree," she told him, smirking. Key rolled his eyes.

"To Taemin, I'm very happy he's doing better in class. To you, I don't think you're good enough for my baby brother's excellence," he snapped arrogantly.

"Why you!"

Yuri rolled her eyes, but was happy to see Jonghyun smiling, with that usual playful glint in his eyes; he soon teamed up with Sooyoung and began attacking Key in his usual, brotherly way. For now, she felt a little relieved; as long as he was distracted, he wouldn't get any strange ideas into his head concerning Jung Jessica.

Yoona and Sulli stood up after a few minutes, grabbing Taemin, holding his hands. They bid farewell to the gang and dragged him away, to who knows where. Taemin looked miserable as he sent another desperate look to his siblings. Key, Yuri, and Jonghyun only waved him away. Jonghyun snorted as they left.

"With two girls holding onto him like that, he looks like more of a player than I am." He commented, earning a hard smack from Yuri.

"Jjong, that's our Tae-baby! He'd never grow up to be a player like you," she hissed, pouting. Key nodded fiercely.

"I'll die before Taemin turns into _you_," he growled.

Jonghyun raised his hands up in surrender. "Sorry! Sheesh. I was just saying."

Sooyoung chuckled. "Well, I'd better head off to Forensic Chemistry. You coming, Yuri?"

Yuri leapt to her feet, nodding. She was the only sibling that found learning about the same thing over and over again fascinating. She waved to her brothers and fell into step besides Sooyoung, who began to talk animatedly about their next subject. Key stretched and looked to his Hyung, who was lost in thought again.

"What are you going to do, Jonghyun? Are you going to class?" he asked, standing up and throwing his trash away. Jonghyun followed him out of the cafeteria before answering.

"No…I have History next, and since I lived through that stuff, I'd rather not go to class." Key smiled and rolled his eyes.

"What are you going to do then?" he asked, waving to people as they passed by in the hallway.

"I'm going to find Jessica Jung."

Key stopped in his tracks, staring at his older brother in disbelief; he was really serious about this. The look of Jonghyun's face told him everything; nothing he could do or say would sway his mind, and as a Siren, his next prey was Jessica. The poor girl was doomed.

"Jonghyun, don't overdo this," he sighed in defeat. Jonghyun nodded.

"I won't. I just want to get to know her."

Yes, get to know her. Catch her off guard. Form a bond of friendship with her, and lower her Siren resisting defenses. Then catch her under the spell. Poor Jessica wouldn't know what hit her.

* * *

Jessica scolded herself time and time again for skipping class and heading to the roof; she promised herself she'd never ditch a lesson again, and she would stay as far as humanly possible from the beautiful scenery of the roof, despite how badly she already wanted to go back. She would pay attention in all her classes, eat lunch outside in the gardens, and slip home, undetected. She would never see Kim Jonghyun again.

Well, that's what she hoped, at least.

She slithered through the crowd, desperately trying to make herself smaller and undetectable as she slipped into her next classroom. Luckily, there were already a lot of students; she dissolved in their number and took an empty seat at the back, bringing all of her supplies out and trying to clear her mind. Despite not necessarily understanding what the teacher was saying, she wrote everything down; scribbling equations, problems, and notes into her notebook, organizing the page to her liking. About halfway through the lesson, the door opened and a student slipped inside; not really anything important, since college students came and went as they pleased. The person slid into the empty seat beside her and brought out a notebook; she continued to ignore him.

"Hey."

Her hand froze and Goosebumps rose on her arms; she knew that voice anywhere.

She peeked at him from the corner of her eyes, through her bangs; there he was, Kim Jonghyun, sitting beside her in all his beautiful glory. He wasn't looking at her – thank god – but the smile that played on his lips was hard to miss as he jotted down a few notes. What was he doing in her classroom? She knew for certain that she didn't have any classes with the heartbreaker; then why was he there, sitting beside her, jotting down notes on a lesson that shouldn't have mattered to him?

"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot. I just came to apologize." He said sincerely, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. As soon as they made eye contact, she looked down.

He came to apologize? Apologize for what? Walking in on her singing and making her so flustered she thought she was going to die? That was hardly anything that made people feel guilty. Jessica tried to wrap her mind around his evil plot as she shook her head.

"It's fine." She whispered. He smiled in her peripheral vision.

"Great. Then let's start over, huh? I'm Jonghyun," he said. Jessica couldn't help it; she locked eyes with him again, staring at him quizzically. Jonghyun blinked innocently in response.

"Um…hi…Jonghyun. I'm Jessica," she whispered awkwardly. He held his hand out and she shook it; his hand was warm and strong, sending tingles rippling up her arm.

"Awesome. I hope we can be friends."

Friends? _Friends?_ Kim Jonghyun wanted to be her friend? Kim Jonghyun never asked a girl to be his friend. He sought after_relationships_; not friendships. Did this have something to do with the fact that she had rejected him earlier, on the roof? She was probably the only girl in the world that would ever reject an offer to be Kim Jonghyun's girlfriend. Was that why he was being so chummy with her?

Despite her defenses telling her to ignore him, the words tumbled out of her mouth. "Sure. I'd like that."

Jonghyun grinned widely as Jessica began to internally kill herself. _She'd like that?_ That sounded so desperate, so clingy! She didn't like Jonghyun at all – at least, she convinced herself to believe that - so why would she ever agree to be his friend?

Jonghyun, on the other hand, was filling up with glee. For some reason, her answer made his mood soar; he was suddenly scary happy, and felt like dancing in circles. What was this feeling? Acceptance? No, it was something more, something he couldn't put his finger on. He dispelled the thought and tried to channel his feelings into his smile so he wouldn't do anything stupid. "Cool." He mumbled, grinning.

Jessica was just one step closer to becoming his prey.


	4. What friends are for

Chapter 4

As soon as Taemin stepped out of Jonghyun's car the next day, two sets of arms wrapped around his and he found himself being dragged away. Yoona and Sulli giggled and began their usual speed gossip, occasionally throwing in yes or no questions at him like "Right Taemin?" or "Can you believe it, Taemin?" he just closed his eyes and ignored them, letting them be.

After being dragged away by Yoona and Sulli fifty times, Taemin learned how to handle the two; he would let himself be taken wherever the heck it was they were taking him without questions or refusal. It was impossible to avoid the two, especially since they had some sort of built in Taemin radar that gave his position away to them immediately; instead of finding their presence and constant attention annoying, Taemin tried to see them as caring friends.

And Yoona and Sulli were certainly caring friends; they could pick up his mood and immediately try to cheer him up when he was down, they helped him when he needed help, and they even knew when to back off when he was in a foul mood. No matter how many times he called them annoying, they would smile at him and say 'That's what friends are for!' And if he was going to tell himself the truth, he actually enjoyed their company. Their constant chatter certainly beat the silence that usually came when he was alone.

"Oh my god, you can't believe who I saw at the beach the other day – " Sulli gushed when he tuned back into their conversation. Yoona slowed down, all ears; they walked down the hallway, linked together by their hands.

"Oh my god, who?"

"It was Sungmin! I didn't even know that he was back in Korea –"

"No way! Sungmin?"

"Yeah way, Sungmin!"

Taemin zoned out again. Who in the world was Sungmin and why was he so important that he deserved what he called the 'YoonSul gushing'? He thought about it for a moment and decided that he didn't care. Instead he stared off in space and let his captors pull him along like the dead weight he was.

"He was just staring at the water. It was kind of creepy, but it looked like he was looking for something – "

"Did he drop something in the water?"

"I don't think so, he would have been swimming, wouldn't he?"

"That's so weird! Did you talk to him?"

"No way! That'd be so awkward, especially since the incident –"

"I'm sure he's forgiven you, Sulli!"

"Of course he hasn't, I spilled Kimchi all over his head –"

Taemin stopped, making the two girls stumble. He pulled on their hands and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry Taemin. Sometimes we get too into it and we forget you're there," Yoona apologized as they started walking again. Sulli nodded.

Taemin raised an eyebrow again. They never _really_ forget that he's there – I mean, they had a death grip on his hands for Pete's sake – they just ignored him sometimes because he couldn't properly place himself in the conversation. Taemin had stopped them not for this reason, but because he was curious about this Kimchi incident. He just couldn't imagine innocent little Sulli pouring Kimchi all over someone's head.

They pulled him into his class room as usual and sat on either side of him. Taemin pulled out his notebook and a pen, quickly scribbling down a note and handing it to Yoona.

"When did Sulli pour Kimchi all over someone?" she read out loud. She started laughing as Sulli snatched the notebook away, blushing.

"No! Don't tell him, Yoona!"

Taemin frowned and reached over, pulling the notebook from her hands. He scribbled another note and handed it back. _Why not?_

"Ugh, Taemin, that was one of the most embarrassing moment of my life!" she whined as Yoona made a face at her.

"It was so funny though! You should just tell him, I mean, it's not like he could spread it around," Yoona joked dryly, smirking and lightly elbowing him. He smiled back and nodded at Sulli.

"Ugh, fine, but only because I know you can keep a secret," she allowed. Taemin raised an eyebrow. "In high school, I was walking in the cafeteria with Yoona and I wasn't looking where I was going. Sungmin used to be a Kingka, you know, one of those popular kids? Well, I tripped over my shoelaces and my Kimchi went all over him. It was mortifying."

Taemin smiled broadly; his version of a laugh. Yoona seemed to take it as a cue and snickered quietly into her hand while Sulli looked down in shame. "I'll bet he still remembers me. He ran away every time I came close to him."

Now Taemin felt like laughing. Instead he bit his lip and turned away, grabbing his notebook and jotting down some quick notes from the lesson. Yoona giggled again and elbowed him in response. "Don't just tune out of the conversation because it's funny! You should laugh. I mean, the image of Sulli pouring Kimchi all over Sungmin's pretty little face is priceless."

"Yoona!"

"Sorry, Sulli! But it's true!"

"Well, it was funny. It kind of reminded me of that one movie."

"_Oh my gosh_, me too!"

Taemin really tuned out of the conversation then, getting bored. YoonSul were – once again – ignoring everything around them but each other. He rolled his eyes and smiled regardless; of all the people in the world that could take an interest in him, he was glad it was these two. At least they offered a good amount of entertainment.

"Speaking of movies, you want to go see that new one this Saturday? The horror movie!" Yoona chirped, hooking onto his arm to grab his attention. He turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

Sulli grabbed his other arm, capturing his attention. "Please say you can come! Yoona and I get scared easily and we need someone to hide behind!"

Taemin freed his arms and wrote down his answer in his notebook. He slid it to Yoona. _Why do you want me to come? You can hide behind each other._

Sulli and Yoona shared a look; one of those telepathic, communicative, deep eye stares that only best friends could accomplish. They both turned to him with serious looks.

"Because we're friends, and that's what friends do, Taemin."

"They do stuff together."

He certainly couldn't argue with that; with a defeated sigh, he gave Yoona another note. "I'll ask Key Hyung."

Smiles instantly adorned both of their faces, and they clapped their hands together behind his back, ultimately bringing him into an awkward hug. "Yay! Maybe Key Oppa and Sooyoung Unnie can come too!" they cheered in synchronization.

Taemin rolled his eyes and gave one last note to Yoona before ripping the page out of his notebook. _Yes, yes, be happy later. We should seriously start paying attention in class._

In response, Sulli and Yoona nodded firmly and took attentive positions, though they giggled throughout the lesson.

* * *

"The movies this Saturday?"

Taemin nodded in front of Key; he had finally detached himself from his stalkers and found his brother, just barely catching up to him as he exited his classroom. He fell into step besides him and decided to accompany him to lunch.

Key shrugged. "I don't really care. But I can't go. I have a lot to do on Saturday."

Taemin narrowed his eyes as they started walking to the cafeteria. "Like what?" he asked.

He noted the hesitation in his Hyung's eyes. "I have to pick up Sooyoung and Nicole and take them shopping. Nicole has been whining to me that she needs new shoes, and that no one can drive her. Sooyoung just wants to come along."

Taemin nodded; the excuse seemed valid enough, and he trusted Key not to lie to him. "Ok. Should I go with YoonSul?"

Key raised an eyebrow. "YoonSul?"

"Yoona and Sulli," Taemin clarified, grabbing his usual Tuna sandwich and paying the lady. There was just something addictive about tuna for him. "Should I go?"

"Of course you should go! They're your friends, aren't they?"

Taemin was suddenly reminded of their conversation in the classroom. _Because that's what friends do, Taemin. They do stuff together_. "Yeah. I guess I'll go."

Key released his breath, not even realizing that he had been holding it. That was a close call; he almost got caught. He couldn't have told Taemin that this Saturday was their Umma's weekly return to the ocean day, and that they were accompanying her so they could get some much needed exercise for their fins; he wasn't supposed to know anything about that. On the Brightside, however, he found a reason why Taemin couldn't follow them to the beach, which also relieved him.

He hooked an arm over his little brother's shoulder. "That's good. Besides, you need to get out more." He told him before steering them over to their usual table. Key took his spot besides Sooyoung and Nicole while Taemin sat down besides Yoona, who was tapping the spot next to her crazily.

"Sulli got held back in Stats because she's taking her time on the test," she announced, unfolding her napkin. Taemin nodded; it wasn't like he necessarily cared. With Sulli and Yoona, At least if one of them was missing, the other would be a little quieter.

"It's such a shame too…I passed by Sungmin Oppa in the halls. She would have died!" Yoona gushed. Taemin smiled, remembering the story.

Without a notebook to write in, Taemin brought out his phone; he typed a quick message and handed it to Yoona. _Do you want to pick up Sulli from class? You guys can introduce me to this Sungmin guy._

Yoona smiled widely, nodding. "Let's go after lunch! Sulli said she was going to catch up to us if she finished, so if she isn't done when we finish eating, we can go get her." Taemin nodded in approval. He might as well humor Yoona when she was alone; she wasn't the same talkative person without Sulli.

He quickly wrote her another message. _And Key Hyung said that it was ok for me to go this weekend. But he has to go shopping with Nicole and Sooyoung, so it'll just have to be us three._

Yoona couldn't help it; she cheered happily. Taemin actually agreed to go out with them; he never did anything with them. She felt so happy she could burst. She was even happier that Sooyoung and Key couldn't come; it meant more time for Taemin, Yoona, and Sulli bonding. However, she felt a little weird adding Sulli's name to the list; but that wasn't right, it couldn't just be Taemin and Yoona bonding. She shook her head; it was just a pointless thought. She gave Taemin a big smile before whipping her phone out, texting the good news to Sulli.

Meanwhile, Nicole and Sooyoung had started arguing again; not that it was anything new, but for the people sitting at their table, they felt like their favorite drama show had just started.

"Why do you need high heels? They're painful and wobbly, and I've rolled my ankles in them at least four times," Sooyoung was saying, taking a huge bite out of her lunch. Nicole gave her a strange look before taking a small bite from her salad.

"Because they make you look taller and slimmer, and they make your legs look longer," she answered. Sooyoung frowned.

"You already have long legs, Nicole. Why would you try to make them seem longer?"

"Ugh, Sooyoung, you wouldn't understand my love for heels because you're so tall; I mean, you're only like an inch shorter than Key, and he towers over me." Nicole growled.

Sooyoung looked appalled. "Nuh-uh! Key is a full head taller than me. Look, see?" she sniped, pulling Key out of his seat and forcing him to stand upright. She pressed her toes against his, getting dangerously close to his face.

Key's heart started to pound and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. _God, Sooyoung. What are you doing to me?_ He thought miserably as she started waving her hand from her hairline to his jaw. He tried not to blush as he stared at her beautiful face so close to his.

To eliminate his tension, he scoffed. "Sooyoung, I swear! Have you ever heard of personal space?"

Sooyoung smirked. "Why, am I bursting your bubble?"

Key cursed himself for making such a careless mistake; instead of scooting away, Sooyoung got closer; their noses were practically touching, and he could feel her breath on his lips. His breathing stopped completely as his face turned beet red, his heart pounding so hard it was skipping beats. He finally leaned away from her, afraid that he would suffer a heart attack. Sooyoung started to cackle evilly.

Nicole pouted, getting jealous, and pulled Key back into his seat, making sure to grasp his arm. She didn't let go of him as she whispered in his ear. "She's such a freak. Tell me again why we hang out with her?"

Key, though a bit annoyed with Nicole's hold on his arm, chuckled. "Because she's probably the most interesting person alive."

Nicole nodded, releasing him. "Fair enough."

"YAH! What are you saying about me?" Sooyoung shouted, climbing back into her seat and narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Nicole stuck her tongue out at her. "Who said we were talking about you? Jeez Sooyoung, get a grip." She sneered, turning away from them and taking a bite of her food.

Key laughed at Sooyoung's expression; she pouted evilly and loaded her plastic spoon with rice, bending it back and taking aim at the brunette's perfect straight locks. Key leaned back to make sure he wasn't caught in the attack and Sooyoung eyed him with that glint in her eyes, thanking him for moving aside with her glance. She called Nicole's name then, and with a flick of her wrist, she was presented with a face full of rice.

Sooyoung, and Key doubled over laughing, holding onto each other for support as they bent over, clutching their stomachs. Yoona snorted and hid behind Taemin, laughing in secret. Nicole was livid, plucking bits of rice out of her hair and tossing them aside, her teeth clenched. Yuri, who was sitting on the other side of Nicole, covered her mouth politely and tried to hide her smile as the brunette leapt to her feet, stomping towards Sooyoung.

"What was that for?" she screeched. Sooyoung wiped a tear away, giggling.

"Revenge!" she squealed joyously. Nicole growled and grabbed a fistful of Sooyoung's rice, smashing it on her head before running off, screaming like a school girl; Sooyoung in return, stole Key's portion of rice and quickly gave chase.

Key chuckled and pushed his now destroyed lunch into the trash. He wasn't that hungry anyway; not after the intensity of Sooyoung's gaze. He still felt the butterflies fluttering around in his stomach, and his shoulder was tingling where she had held onto him while she laughed; he had certainly fallen hard, that was for sure. Sometimes he wished that his Siren blood would kick in and he could seduce her with his dashing good looks or his song so she could finally see how much he loved her; but that was wrong. Besides, that was more Jonghyun's style, not Key's.

Speaking of Jonghyun, he materialized out of nowhere besides Yuri, taking a giant bite out of his Kimchi. Yuri turned to him, shocked at his sudden appearance.

"So I'm friends with Jessica now," he said instead of a greeting. Yuri closed her mouth, swallowing her 'hey, Jjong' she planned to say. She pursed her lips and studied Jonghyun's expression carefully.

"You aren't going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" she asked suspiciously. Jonghyun rolled his eyes.

"Please, Yul. I already told you that that didn't work. I'm going to seriously be her friend," he answered whole-heartedly. Yuri didn't buy it.

"You're planning something, I know you are," she accused, standing up and throwing her food away. Jonghyun shook his head.

"No I'm not, I promise."

Yuri narrowed her eyes, but didn't push it. If Jonghyun promises, then she believes him. "Alright. But if I hear one word about how you broke poor Jessica Jung's heart, you're in for it."

Jonghyun saluted her. "There will be no problems from me."

Yuri gave him a hard look just to be sure; he seemed to be telling the truth. She sighed and went to Taemin and Yoona, waving Jonghyun farewell as he went off on his hunt to find his newest play toy.

* * *

Jonghyun was still scary happy as he roamed the halls, peering at every face, looking for that certain brunette with the red rimmed glasses. She had been the only thing he could think about all last night; he kept thinking of ways to be more friendly, be more open so she could let him in. He needed to get her to the point where she completely trusted him before he ever sang to her again; otherwise, his plan would never work. A devilish grin spread across his face when he finally found her, sitting outside in the garden by herself, eating a packed lunch.

He slipped by her side, making her body go rigid; all of her muscles seemed to tense at his presence. "What are you eating?"

"Hello to you too."

Jonghyun chuckled; she certainly fit well with her ice cold description, especially with that snippy attitude. "What are you eating?" he asked again.

"I'm eating a ham sandwich," she replied simply, taking a bite out of it. She refused to make eye contact.

"Did you make it yourself?" he pushed. There had to be some way to get her to open up.

She grimaced. "Yes."

"Why the long face?"

She sighed, putting the sandwich down on her lap and staring out at the flowers and trees of the garden. "I'm not good at cooking. This ham sandwich alone is already pushing my cooking abilities."

Jonghyun looked at the sandwich. It didn't look_that_ bad. "What are you talking about? It looks fine to me."

Jessica stole a glance at him, measuring his expression. He was being sincere; he was truthfully saying that the god awful creation sitting on her lap looked edible. For some reason, she felt touched; no one had ever complimented her cooking before, and for obvious reasons. A smile crept onto her face before she could stop it.

"Do you really think so?" she asked. She couldn't help but feel like a little girl. Jonghyun chuckled.

"Yep, I really think so. What else can you make?"

Jessica's smile wiped right off of her face. Here she thought Jonghyun was being pleasant for once instead of hitting on her like he did with all the other girls. He was just making fun of her, teasing her like everyone else.

"Not much. I can make a few Korean dishes, but not a lot," she admitted, grunting.

"Well, it's better than me. Key and our Umma cook everything in our household. I bet I'd figure out a way to burn water," he said beside her, chuckling.

Jessica really turned to look at him, baffled; so maybe he was being pleasant. It surprised her. He wasn't being that seductive, flirty person she knew him to be. He was being a friendly, caring, overall fun to be with person. His comments were sincere, and he was even joking with her; where had her thought image of him gone?

"Why are you talking to me?" she asked him. He finally turned to look at her, giving her a bright smile and a shrug.

"We're friends now, aren't we?"

Oh. Right. Friends. She had made that agreement with him yesterday; she didn't think much of it, just pushed it to the side and told herself she wouldn't come into contact with Jonghyun again. Well, once again, that obviously didn't work.

"Why do you keep coming to find me? I was perfectly fine before you showed up," she mumbled under her breath. Jonghyun pretended like he didn't hear.

"You didn't answer me. Does that mean you don't want to be my friend?" he asked her instead, pushing her limits. He pouted at her, mocking disappointment.

Jessica took him seriously, thinking that she had hurt his feelings. "No, no. We are friends now…I guess."

"Can you get rid of the guessing part? We're friends or not. Come on, Jessica. It's not that hard."

Hearing her name roll out of his mouth like that – Jessica would never admit it, but she liked the sound of it. "Ok, ok! We're friends. No guesswork."

Jonghyun grinned at her; that's exactly what he wanted to hear.

* * *

"Sulli!"

"Yoona!"

Taemin stood by, wanting to jump out of a window. The two last saw each other an hour ago and they were acting like they had just been reunited after years. He had to fight to ignore all the curious stares of college students as they passed by, staring at the hugging girls in front of him. When Yoona and Sulli finally parted from each other, they took their usual positions on either side of him, grasping his hands and tugging him along.

"Sulli, Taemin said at lunch that he wants to meet Sungmin. We should introduce him!" Yoona started, Sulli turned to Taemin, mortified.

"No! You don't have to meet him, Taemin! It's not that important!" she stuttered, blushing and looking down. Taemin frowned, pulling his hands away from the two and retrieving his phone. _But I want to. I want to meet this guy you keep talking about._

Yoona and Sulli both stared at the text, then at each other. For some reason, the text seemed to imply a hidden message; and the look on Taemin's face – pouting, a little angry even – confirmed their suspicions. Was he _jealous_? All they had been talking about today was Sungmin and how terrified Sulli was of seeing him again. They even got to the point where they ignored him – twice. Smiles lit their faces at the mere shared thought. Taemin was jealous?

"Ok, Taemin. Let's go see Sungmin Oppa then!" Sulli cheered, though not as lively as she normally would have. Taemin smiled, and they grabbed his hands, towing him along.

Yoona secretly giggled behind her hand. She felt so evil, bringing Taemin into the picture just so Sulli could finally properly apologize, but she also felt victorious. Sulli had never gone near Sungmin after the incident, so she could only stare after him guiltily and say quiet apologies to herself. She knew Sulli. Sulli was a simple girl that had a guilty conscious. She never properly forgave Sungmin, and that fact alone bothered her every day for the rest of her life.

Sulli's stomach flipped when they finally found _him_ – Sungmin – talking to a bunch of his friends by the stairwell. She shot a look to Yoona, but Yoona was smiling; Taemin was looking at him suspiciously, his eyes narrowed in curiosity. Sulli groaned; she was alone for this one.

Yoona detached herself from Taemin's hold and ran to Sulli's side, pushing her forward. She gave her friend an encouraging look before taking her hand, leaving Taemin behind them. "Come on, Sulli! We can do it! Whaiting!"

Sulli smiled nervously as Yoona pulled her forward. Taemin trailed behind, getting more and more curious.

"Annyeong, Sungmin Oppa!" Yoona greeted cheerfully when they finally stopped in front of him. He turned around, confused.

"Annyeong… Do I know you two?" he asked, studying them carefully. Sulli bit her lip as his eyes widened in realization.

"Kimchi girl!"

Yoona couldn't help but snort out a laugh, and Taemin smiled as Sulli bent forward into a 180 degree bow. She apologized like crazy. "I'm so sorry about that! I never properly apologized in high school because I thought you hated me and I mean, why wouldn't you hate me, I dumped Kimchi all over you, and even though I didn't really mean to do it, I just couldn't apologize because I was so scared, I couldn't even face you again because I thought you hated me! I don't like it when people hold grudges and I thought you had one against me so I panicked every time I tried to apologize, so now that we're in college I thought maybe I'd finally get this off of my chest because this might be the last time I ever see you –"

Taemin walked up and elbowed her, grabbing her shoulder and forcing her to stand straight. Yoona covered her mouth as she tried to stop her laughter while Sungmin smiled pleasantly, holding his hand out. Sulli took it, confused, and he shook it.

"Well, your apology is accepted. Now that we're acquainted, what's your name? I can't call you Kimchi girl forever," he told her, giving her a forgiving smile. Sulli turned to look at Yoona in disbelief. That was too easy! _Way_ too easy!

"…I'm Sulli," she said shyly as he let go of her hand. Yoona jumped forward.

"I'm Yoona, her best friend!" she greeted happily. Sungmin smiled and turned to Taemin, holding has hand out to him. Taemin stared at it uncomfortably.

Confused, Sungmin dropped his hand to his side. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Oh, Taemin doesn't talk. He's mute. But you probably know who he is; you know, Lee Taemin? He's Yuri's little brother," Yoona and Sulli said in synchronization. Sungmin's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, you're Taemin! I always hear things about you from my friends," he said with a smile, holding his hand out again. Taemin took it this time, though he was still uncomfortable.

The group of friends behind him caught Taemin's interest; most of them were girls, and half of them were staring at him and whispering to each other. When he made eye contact with one of the girls, she blushed a deep shade of red and hid into her friend's shoulder; that started a whole scream fest, much similar to YoonSul's gushing. He didn't really know why eye contact deserved something akin to YoonSul gushing, but he didn't question it. Girls were confusing species.

Yoona and Sulli raised an eyebrow at the group of girls, ignoring Sungmin completely as he tried to introduce each one. Taemin wasn't a celebrity – even if he looked like one – so why were they freaking out so much? Their defenses skyrocketed however, when a girl detached herself from the group, swaying her hips from side to side in a seductive manner. As she approached their innocent little Taemin, they got protective; the assumed their usual positions – Yoona on the left, Sulli on the right – and took his hands, leaning into his shoulders. Taemin seemed a little taken aback, but he just assumed that it was time to leave.

The girl that had advanced towards them glared at YoonSul, but continued to step forward, smiling seductively at Taemin. Yoona and Sulli decided that things got real from that point; luckily, since Taemin was zoning out, they stuck their tongues out at her childishly in a possessive way and cuddled into his side. Taemin came back to earth and looked down at the two, confused, just as the girl stepped up to him.

"Hi, Taemin."

Yoona and Sulli were suddenly very happy that he couldn't speak; they watched gleefully as he just stared blankly at her. The girl's smile wavered slightly, but she held her ground, sending a glare to Yoona and Sulli, who were looking smug by his side.

"My name is Gyuri. I'm in your Japanese class," she introduced. Yoona and Sulli exchanged another look of glee as Taemin continued to stare blankly.

"We never see you around; where do you sit?" Yoona asked her. Gyuri turned to her, annoyed.

"I sit in the front row with my partner Donghae." She replied curtly, being polite. Yoona snickered. And Sulli held her hand out behind Taemin's back; she gladly gave her a high five. Irritated, Gyuri turned back to Taemin.

"Class is about to start; do you want to walk together?" she asked cutely. She smiled as she finally got a response from Taemin, but instantly darkened as he looked to Sulli and Yoona for an answer.

YoonSul smirked. This battle was over. "No, it's ok. We can take him to class. Besides, I'm his partner." Yoona told her proudly. Taemin nodded and sent her an apologetic smile; Gyuri stomped away angrily.

"Well, we'd better head to class. Bye, Sungmin Oppa!" Yoona cheered. Sungmin waved as YoonSul steered Taemin away, filling up with glee as they listened to Gyuri rant to her friends. No one stepped in between Yoona, Sulli, and Taemin time except Taemin's family and occasionally Sooyoung. It was just an unwritten rule that had to be followed, and anyone that tried to break it had to face them; and they could be pretty evil if they wanted to be.

They pulled Taemin into their Japanese classroom, finally letting go of him; he flexed his cramped fingers in response.

"Let's meet up after class, ok?" Sulli told them as she ran towards her Partner, Tiffany, at the back of the class. They tried to get the professor to let them be one group, but he denied and said two people each group. And since Yoona's last name was closer to Taemin's in the alphabet, she was paired with him while Sulli was sent away.

Taemin fell into his seat and retrieved his notebook, writing a few lines down. _Sungmin seemed nice. He forgave Sulli in the end._

Yoona smiled. "All a part of my plan. I knew he'd forgive her."

Taemin raised an eyebrow and jotted down another note. _You planned all that? _Yoona gave a happy nod. _I should have known. You always try to cheer Sulli up._

Yoona beamed and looked over at Sulli, who was deep in her Japanese notes with Tiffany. Yes, she always tried to cheer Sulli up when she was down. She liked to see Sulli smiling, and she liked it when she was happy. She would do anything to keep that smile on Sulli's face. Her expression grew tender as she turned back to Taemin.

"Of course. She's my best friend."

Taemin smiled and elbowed her playfully; she rolled her eyes and giggled. "Yeah, I'm being sappy. So what?"

They both laughed; which gathered Sulli's attention. She turned to her friends and couldn't fight the frown that fell into place; she couldn't believe that she was mad at Yoona in that moment, but she was. Jealously stole her mind as she watched them laugh, and she forced herself to turn away. No. she couldn't take this out on Yoona; maybe Yoona didn't like him like that. She cleared her mind and pushed the thought away.

She was Choi Sulli. Her best friend was Im Yoona. And she had a crush on Lee Taemin.

* * *

Sungmin, Gyuri, and Tiffany introduced. :) 


	5. Heart Shaped Seashells

Chapter 5 heart shaped seashells

Yuri would never admit it, but she liked sitting under the trees by the field after school.

It wasn't like she enjoyed the scenery or anything like that; no, she would go to the gardens if she wanted to take in the beauty of nature. It was the heated competition happening on the grass below that intrigued her. She took a liking to a particular spot under the shade of a taller tree and just watched; every day after school for about an hour. Watching boys run back and forth, back and forth, kicking a little black and white ball. She loved to watch them play, smiling at each other and patting each other's backs when they successfully made a goal. She loved the way the dew on the grass flew into the air as they ran around. She loved the beauty of it all.

But all of that was really a lie; she just loved to watch Choi Minho.

Minho was a god of sports; she had seen him play soccer, basketball, football, tennis, hockey, and even Ping-Pong, and every single game, he came out victorious. He seemed to have a different personality when he was in charge of whatever game he was playing; he had that sexy, charismatic stare that seemed to bore down into your soul, a fierce determination that burned in his eyes, and cat like movements and ninja reflexes. She loved the way his hair curled behind his ears, the way he laughed when he missed, the way he stood to take a breath of air. She loved how he quietly passed her in the halls, head ducked down. She loved his hobby for reading; which showed that he wasn't just a sports maniac. She even loved his voice, deep and even, like sweet velvety music to her ears. She just couldn't help but be attracted to him; like every other girl that sat around the field.

Minho had a crowd of admirers; girls from freshman to senior came to watch him win. Of course, these girls were bolder and braver than Yuri; sitting directly at the baseline of the field to stare at him up close instead of yards away, hiding under a tree. But for Yuri - being a Lee sister and known for rejecting every boy that came to her – she couldn't afford to be one of those girls. It was safer for her to stay hidden on the side lines.

Besides, even if Minho liked her back, she would never properly accept him; falling in love with a human was strictly forbidden in her book. How could she ever fall in love with someone who'd only die after two Siren years, maybe even one? She had already experienced losing someone once, and she never wanted to experience it again.

When she was about eighty years old as a Siren, she had fallen in love with a sailor off the coast of their beach house. She loved him dearly, as he did her. And one day, she told him her secret and sang her song; the Sailor proposed to her. But before she could ever get married, the Sailor suffered a terrible heart attack; he was only thirty years old.

Yuri remembered how broken she was; she ran to her mother and asked her why he didn't survive, as her father did. And that was when she knew. It was because she was half-human. Unlike her mother's kiss – a kiss from a full-blooded Siren, which allowed the human to live as long as the Siren who gave it to him – her kisses were nothing. Useless. _Human_. She remembered crying her eyes out for years; eventually, Jonghyun had to take her out to sea to help her forget about him.

Yuri sighed at the terrible memory and looked to the sky, tearing her eyes away from Minho. That was exactly why she couldn't fall in love. She's only end up being hurt.

Minho's soccer practice lasted another fifteen minutes before he finally called it quits, grabbing his bag. The girls crowded around him and assaulted him with compliments, but as usual, he pushed them aside with polite bows and was on his way. As he approached her little spot, Yuri leapt to her feet and hid in the shadows, watching as he passed; when he was out of sight, she crawled back to her spot and leaned against the tree, staring at each girl's face by the field.

Sometimes, she wished she was either full-human or full-siren instead of half of both. If she was a full-blooded Siren, she wouldn't ever have to worry about love. She'd just have to continue living her life with her loved one, and they'd die together. If she was a full-blooded human, it would be exactly the same. Of course, she wouldn't live as long as her brothers, and they would miss her terribly, but it would solve her romantic issues. She couldn't say she liked being a half-siren, but at the same time, she couldn't say she hated it. She knew that not all things in life were perfect; she learned that the hard way. Sighing, she closed her eyes and dispelled the thought, clearing her mind. Thinking like that would get her nowhere. After finally convincing herself that she was perfectly happy as a half-siren, she opened her eyes.

To come face to face with Choi Minho.

Minho couldn't help it; he released a hearty laugh as Lee Yuri leapt back, screaming in shock. He didn't mean to scare her, but her reaction was just priceless. He looked at her apologetically as she glared at him, hugging the tree behind her.

Minho knew that Yuri came to every competition he ever entered. He felt that it was because of her presence that he always won, too; after all, he did have a crush on her, like every other guy in school. She was beautiful; her hair was like an ocean wave, rippling and waving in a silky fashion down her back with a few light blonde strips highlighted in, and Her eyes were a smoky brown, gentle, but guarded. She had a million dollar smile – much like her other siblings – and every time he saw her, he couldn't help but stop and stare. She captivated him in a way no other woman could.

If he had the courage, Minho would have talked to her ages ago; but every time he finally built up the bravery and approached her, the words jumbled in his head and he made an about face. He was just too shy; he didn't know how to talk to her. He didn't know how to talk to anyone, really. His only friend was far away, on the other side of the planet on a foreign scholarship; and once he left, Minho was on his own. There was also the fact that Yuri never left her intimidating, scary, and vicious looking older brother Jonghyun's side. Minho saw a chance as he passed by her today, sitting alone under the tree close to the fields. He finally built up enough courage and after taking a shower and changing his clothes – he didn't want to talk to her sweaty and covered in dirt – he stopped in front of her and waited till she opened her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. Better he pretend he didn't know she came to his meets.

Yuri huffed and looked away, a blush staining her cheeks. "I-I'm just…I…Nothing. I am doing absolutely nothing," she admitted, defiantly staring at the ground.

"Oh," he answered dumbly. Yuri looked up at him with a glare. "Well, you've been sitting here since the beginning of practice. Isn't it time to leave?"

That seemed to wake her up a bit; she glanced at her necklace – which was a heart shaped clock – and leapt to her feet, bowing to him. He stepped back in surprise at her sudden reaction. "I made Jonghyun wait," she grumbled under her breath. She seemed like she was mentally slapping herself for being so careless.

Minho looked at her panic ridden face and blushed; she was just so beautiful. "Well, you'd better catch up with him, then."

Yuri stared at him questioningly; when he turned on his heel to walk away, she stepped after him.

Minho decided that that was good enough for a first conversation. He would just have to build in more and more until they were at least friends, and then he could tell her about his little crush. But for now, a simple chit-chat was perfectly fine with him. He felt like he accomplished something anyway.

He jerked to a stop when Yuri snatched his hand. "Wait. What's your name?" she asked. She figured it be better to pretend like she didn't already know; if she acted like she knew, she might be seen as some sort of creepy stalker.

Minho smiled. "I'm Minho."

Yuri smiled back instantly, blushing and releasing his hand. But the longer she stood there, the faster her smile dropped to a frown. She turned her back to him. "My name is Yuri. I'd like it if you'd stay away from me."

And she ran off, like the coward she was.

* * *

Yuri was right about one thing. Jonghyun was certainly irritated as he sat in the parking lot waiting for her, one of the last few people left on campus. He was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently as she finally slid into the back seat, bowing her head. Key snickered.

"Where were you?" Jonghyun asked, his voice even and controlled as he pulled out of the parking lot and sped away. Yuri wracked her brain for an excuse.

"I got held behind in class. I was trying to convince the professor to give me some extra problems for homework, since I like it so much." She quickly blurted. Jonghyun raised an eyebrow at her from the rearview mirror, but judging by his look of disbelief, he had bought it.

"I can't understand you. Liking homework?" he mumbled. Key rolled his eyes.

"You know that Yuri and I don't enjoy video games. We have to find something else to do in our spare time at home, or else it gets kind of boring," he chirped. Taemin shook his head.

"I still can't believe you didn't like Call of Duty. Especially since you're the friendly one in the family," he mused. Key turned to look at Taemin, raising an eyebrow.

"Those online gamers? I'd never. One of them threatened me to be ready because if he killed me, he'd have sex with my mother. With my_mother!"_ he cried in disgust. Taemin and Jonghyun chuckled. Yuri shared a look of disgust with Key.

"But it's the threats that make the game fun! And please, Key. I get 'sex with your mother' comments every time I play. It's just a comment they use to throw you off, like those 'Your mama' jokes."

Key shook his head, completely grossed out. "No thanks. I'll read a book over playing that vile game any day." Yuri nodded her head vehemently in agreement.

Taemin shrugged. "Suit yourselves."

Jonghyun pulled into the family garage quickly and evenly, parking the car and immediately hopping out. Taemin was right on his heels. "First one there gets the good controller!"

Taemin sprinted after his older brother. "You're on!"

Key and Yuri shared a look before slowly going after their siblings, making sure to lock the car before they left.

As they stepped into the living room, they immediately took notice of Taemin and Jonghyun – as well as their mother – sitting at the couch, eyes glued to the flat screen TV mounted onto the wall. The sounds of war echoed throughout the house from the surround sound speaker system, and Key mused that if a person passed by, they might have thought that they were being murdered. They rolled their eyes and continued on, locking the door to the garage behind them.

"Welcome home…I guess," their father greeted from the dining room, sending a confused look to the living room just as his wife shouted 'EAT MY BULLETS, YOU SLIMY BASTARD!' Key and Yuri chuckled at his perplexed look and each gave him a hug.

"Hey, Appa." Their father was the gentler parent in the family – clearly – and Yuri and Key always told themselves that they took in his personality while Taemin and Jonghyun took after their mother.

"Can you call us when they're done? I have to go over our English lesson with Taemin," Key told him just as a bomb exploded in the game. Cheers of happiness rang from the three on the couch. Their Appa took another look at the living room before nodding.

"If you can hear me by then," he mumbled, sighing as Taemin's character stepped on a mine, effectively blowing himself up. He cursed loudly.

Key and Yuri chuckled and waved, heading upstairs. Yuri decided to follow Key into his room since hers was closer to the stairs, which in turn, meant closer to the noise. They dropped their bags on his bed and Key went to his stereo system, putting some classical music on as a background hum in an attempt to block out the rowdy battle downstairs. It was a little better, and the peacefulness seemed just right for studying.

Key grabbed his bag and moved to his desk, quickly pulling out his assignments and getting straight on them. Yuri did the same, laying comfortably on her elbows on Key's memory foam mattress. She flew through her homework in a breeze, just scribbling down answers she knew without fail. She knew that everything she wrote down was correct – she had been alive for quite enough time to master something as simple as Calculus – So pretty soon, she was laying on her back, staring at the ceiling, her papers tucked neatly into her messenger bag.

Key had finished as well, and he sat leaned back in his chair, reading a book; it had to be his thousandth one, judging by the collection in his ceiling high bookcase against the wall. He smiled as he read a good part as Yuri watched him, suddenly bored.

Her thoughts were still cloudy, continuously going back to Choi Minho and their conversation at the field. She kept hitting herself over and over again for running away like that; telling him to stay away from her? What was she thinking! But the smart side of her conscious was telling her that she did the right thing; she avoided the pain of heartbreak by avoiding the subject in general. It would be best for both Yuri and Minho if they never met again. But Yuri couldn't help but feel like she wanted to get to know him better now that he had finally noticed her; her thoughts were so jumbled.

"Key, can I borrow a book?" she asked. Maybe a good story could clear her head. Key looked up and nodded.

"If you read anything from the top shelf, don't tell me about them. I haven't started those ones yet," he said as she approached it. Yuri disregarded the comment. She couldn't reach the top shelf anyway.

She plucked a book from somewhere in the middle without really looking at what she was going to read and went back to Key's bed, launching herself onto it. She flipped to the first page and began to read, trying to replace her thoughts of Minho.

But fifty pages in, she realized that even though she was reading, she wasn't processing the words. Her mind was still preoccupied with Choi Minho and his stupid charismatic glance, his stupid lopsided smile, and his stupid voice that sent chills down her spine. She wanted to scream; because of this one meeting, she was falling apart. With a sigh she closed the book and returned it to the shelf, gathering her things.

"Key, I'm going to go for a walk on the beach, ok?" she told him. Key nodded, eyes glued to his page.

"Don't get wet," he warned as she left.

She dropped her books off in her room and traded her converse for flip-flops before heading downstairs, where the sounds of war continued to rage on. Taemin and Jonghyun were now standing on the couch, controllers firm in their grasp, while her mother sat still, her fingers moving rapidly over the buttons; Yuri took a quick glance at the screen, getting confused.

"Who's winning?" she dared herself to ask. No one turned to her as they continued to play.

"No one's winning, but Umma has a 357 head shot kill streak that she's building on and Hyung and I are backing her up," Taemin took the liberty of answering. "But out of everyone playing right now, there are two Americans who keep killing us."

Yuri didn't really understand any of that, but she just assumed that by the evil look in her Umma's eyes, they were doing really well. "Well, I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back before dinner."

Taeyeon lifted a hand off her controller for a brief moment, waving her daughter off. "Ok, sweetie. I'll start cooking in an hour – DAMN IT!"

Jonghyun groaned as his player vanished from the screen, reappearing again in a different location. "That jerk shot me!" he whined, before his face contorted into a look of disgust. She could barely hear shouts of joy coming from his headset. Taemin winced at the shouts as well; however, their mother smirked victoriously, throwing a grenade on screen and effectively destroying an entire squad of players.

"No, you cannot have sex with his mother, because you're speaking to her right now!" Taeyeon screamed into her headset. Taemin and Jonghyun cheered.

"Umma, he disconnected!"

"THEN WE HAVE A LEAD!"

Yuri rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered how she was ever related to those three.

She opened the front door to their house and was instantly met with the cool ocean breeze as evening descended upon the beach. The sky was a beautiful purple color, and the clouds looked like puffy, pink cotton candy. The waves were calm and made a soothing crashing sound, which blocked out most of the battle raging on inside her home.

She stepped onto the beach sand with a spring in her step; she loved the twilight hours of the day. It was a Siren thing, maybe, but she just felt happier and more powerful than ever before; she began to sing to herself in a low voice, digging her toes into the sand and cherishing the moment she was in.

The beach was empty; at least, in the area she was in, because it was part of her private property. After all their years of living on land, their family had obtained quite a fortune; enough money to buy out half of the beach. Civilians were allowed to wander on it from morning till afternoon, but after three o'clock, the beach was theirs. Not everybody had the liberty of saying that they owned a private beach; Yuri loved it. It gave her a place to relax and think in her natural element.

She found a nice spot in the sand a good ways away from the water and sat down, burying her feet in the cool sand. The air felt nice, and she even felt a calm in her mind; Choi Minho seemed to be background noise in comparison to the beauty around her. She let out a comfortable sigh and leaned back closing her eyes and relaxing.

"Um...E-excuse me…"

She opened her eyes with an angry huff. Who was bothering her relaxation time? On second thought, who was coming onto their private beach after hours? She frowned irritably and turned to the stranger, ready to tell them off.

But she came – once again – face to face with Choi Minho.

Minho looked just as surprised as Yuri was; his eyes widened noticeably and he bowed to her out of respect. "Yuri? What are you doing out here?"

So much for getting her mind off of Choi Minho. Yuri focused her thoughts and tried to calm her beating heart as she gave him a cold look. "I live here. This is my family's beach."

Minho looked taken back, shocked. "Your family's beach? Wow. Lucky you."

Yuri ignored the comment and kept her blush down. "What are _you_ doing here?" she asked in turn. Minho rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "My roommate told me to go to the super market by the beach, but I'm seriously lost. Do you know where it is?"

Yuri raised her eyebrow. If he kept on following the road, he would have been there. He probably lived far away if he didn't know that much. "It's just down the street," she told him. He looked at her and smiled in relief.

"Thank you!" he sighed happily. Yuri couldn't fight it; a blush rose in her cheeks.

"It's no problem. You should be on your way."

But Minho hesitated. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to come up with the right words to say; Yuri didn't turn to him, just waited anxiously for him to leave so she could get back to relaxing. She closed her eyes and prayed that he would just leave; her heart was going to explode at this rate.

"What did you mean earlier, about staying away from you? It was the first time we'd ever spoken to each other," he finally asked, balancing his weight equally in the sand. Yuri cursed under her breath and turned in his general direction, refusing to look at him.

"I just…I just don't…" she whispered, unable to produce the right words. How could she tell him that she was a Siren that couldn't fall in love, and that she had an infatuation with him?

"You just don't what?" he pushed, stepping closer to her. She turned her body towards the waves, trying to focus. She needed an excuse. Something she could produce usually in no time at all, but was now suddenly very hard. An excuse. An excuse. But her mind was coming up short; she had no answer to give but silence.

"Alright, you don't have to answer. I'd better go," Minho sighed dejectedly after a long pause. He turned on his heel and started to walk away when Yuri closed her eyes and whispered something so quiet, he barely heard it over the waves.

"I don't want to get hurt again."

Hurt? What did she mean by hurt? As far as his knowledge went, Yuri never accepted anyone's confessions. Was there some sort of incident in high school that made her guarded to the male species? It could definitely describe her unwavering determination to stay away from men, and the overprotectiveness of her older brother. Was that why she followed Jonghyun everywhere? Because he was protecting her? He didn't know. A frown etched onto his face as he went back to Yuri, sitting down in the sand next to her.

"I just don't want to get hurt again." She repeated, her voice cracking as tears pricked behind her eyes. Minho hesitated and softly put a consoling hand on her shoulder, rubbing small circles into it. She sniffed back her sobs and refused to look at him, though she was thankful for his comfort. After a long silence – the light was completely gone now that the sun had set – he turned to her, studying her in the darkness.

"Well, how do you know that I'll hurt you?" he whispered. "What if we became friends?"

Friends. Yes, friends was acceptable. A step below love, a step above stranger. A perfect, snug little place for Minho in her life. Friends. She could handle that much, surely; instead of ignore him completely – like she had originally planned – she could offer small talk and smiles. They'd never become friends like Key and Sooyoung, who were joined at the hip, but they could work something out. Friends. Just friends.

But with a bond of friendship came the same nagging feeling of being left alive while everyone she loved died. Even if Minho became a friend, he would die someday, and she'd be left alone again to repeat the process in the future. No. she couldn't even be just friends.

_I know that you'll hurt me. Everyone dies someday_, she thought to herself grimly. She shook her head. "I can't."

Minho frowned again. Why was she continuously rejecting him when she so obviously wanted to let him in? "You can trust me."

Yuri finally looked at him, into that charismatic glance. His eyes were blazing with truth; he clearly thought that he could help her, could patch her up. And that glance made her rethink her decisions. As she searched his eyes for even the slightest amount of hesitation, she came to a realization; having Minho around wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he could fix what was left of her while he was still alive.

"Ok," she sighed, letting a smile spread across her face. She wiped the last of her tears away.

Minho smiled. "Then friends it is."

"Yuri? Yuri! Where are you? Yul!"

They both turned towards the beach side mansion, where Jonghyun was shouting, standing under the porch light. He was just about to climb down and search for her on the beach when Yuri stood up, waving to him. "I'm over here, Jjong! I'll be there in a second!"

Minho stood up and wiped the sand off of his jeans. "I'd better go. My roommate is probably starving."

Yuri laughed, although she internally kicked herself for acting so girly in front of him. She had to keep her defenses up, friend or not. "I'll see you at school, then."

Minho waved as she ran towards the house, where Jonghyun was waiting. He raised an eyebrow at Minho's retreating figure; luckily, it was dark enough where he couldn't recognize him as someone from school.

"Just some guy. Is dinner ready?" she asked, changing the subject and rushing inside.

"Yeah. Umma paused the game and made us some salmon. I swear, we've been eating nothing but fish lately; you can tell how badly Umma needs a swim," Jonghyun whined, following after her. The scent of dinner instantly filled her nostrils and she smiled.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with fish. We are Sirens, after all," she told him. He rolled his eyes and pushed her into the dining room, where Taemin and their Umma were talking animatedly to their Appa, who seemed to come down from a nap.

"And Taemin here is a beast with an MK46. He was killing people left and right!"

"Umma, no I'm not! I died twice because it's reload took so long."

"Nonsense, Tae-baby! You covered for me perfectly enough. I mean, it was your sacrifice that gave me my new kill streak record."

"I can't believe you killed so many!"

Yuri chuckled at her happy yet dysfunctional family; Taemin and their Umma, Call of Duty addicts. Key and their Appa, who preferred peace and quiet. Even Jonghyun and herself, who liked each other's company. They were all polar opposites, yet they were a family. They loved each other. They were the only people she could really trust.

_"You can trust me."_

Well, maybe now, she could finally trust someone else for a change.

* * *

I hope that was enough Minyul to satisfy you for now. They'll definitely appear again later, so don't worry about that; I've already planned this story down to chapter 23, and there are plenty of Minyul moments for all you fans out there. There's a huge one - a ful chapter dedicated to Minyul, and no switching in between couples - coming at chapter 14 and continuing to 15. Anway, SOOKEY LOVERS PREPARE! I love Sookey. it is my ultimate top pairing. :) 


	6. Melody of Heart

Chapter 6 melody of the heart

* * *

If there was one thing Key wasn't satisfied with in his long life, it was being friend-zoned.

Time and time again he'd made human friends. When their time in an area was over, they'd move away; and Key would never see those friends again. But in the new place they had moved to, he'd make new ones; it was a talent, a gift maybe, and he liked it. He liked human company, from the inside jokes and secrets, to the drama and the fights. Humans were interesting to him; like science experiments, he liked to judge and measure each one he met.

But one person he'd never properly understand was Choi Sooyoung.

He had met Sooyoung in the strangest way; he had just moved back to the beach with the family, and she lived in the mansion next door. She was still a high-school freshman at that time, and she was shy. Painfully shy, in fact. Her mother had forced her to bring Muffins to them to welcome them to the neighborhood, and when she rang the doorbell, Key was the one who answered. It was odd to him, seeing a small little pipsqueak of a person with her hair tied up in braids and braces lining her teeth. She had pushed the muffins into his chest roughly, pushing him back. Then she bowed her head until her hair touched the floor. "H-HI! M-my n-n-name is C-Choi S-S-S….Sooyoung!" she had stuttered, blushing. "I-I live N-next d-d-door! W-welcome t-t-to t-the neighborhood!" He remembered that Taeyeon had come then and asked her inside; and she had ran away as fast as her little legs could carry her.

He chuckled at the memory. Sooyoung had certainly grown up into a beautiful, tall, model-like person.

"KEY! Come on, we're late again!" the person in question shouted, hands on her hips. Key rolled his eyes and jogged up to her, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

He couldn't really remember how they really became best friends; but he knew it had something to do with food. Sooyoung _loved_ food. Eating in general was her strongest suit, and he often gave her his share of lunch just to appease her constant whines. Unlike the normal human being, Sooyoung ate as much as she wanted, whenever she wanted, wherever she wanted; and she didn't gain a single pound. And this in turn, Key supposed, was because of her violent streak. Sooyoung had quite the temper; she had chased him around the beach countless times, and her punches were hard and bone-breaking. He didn't know where all that power came from within her stick of a body, but she had limitless amounts, as well as a never ending supply of energy.

All in all, Sooyoung was a very confusing person.

"I think we really need to pay attention this time. This is going to be on the test, you know," she chided to him as they entered their classroom, taking a seat in the middle row. He rolled his eyes.

"I know, Sooyoung. You've only reminded me fifty times."

"Well, you need to be reminded fifty times. Your memory is worse than a goldfish."

Key raised his eyebrow. He actually knew some goldfish that had excellent memory, thank you very much. Instead of claiming his thought out loud, he simply turned to the professor and jotted down his notes. Sooyoung followed his lead.

From Sooyoung's point of view, Key was the perfect person; he was tall and skinny, lanky but muscular, humorous and sarcastic, but serious when needed. He knew just what to say to fix a broken heart, handled confessions like a professional by rejecting kindly and asking for friendship instead, and even had it in him to stop a physical fight only with words. He didn't have a single flaw in Sooyoung's eyes, and that alone bothered her to no end.

Sooyoung found out in middle school that she had a knack for finding people's weak points. For example, Nicole, her friend since preschool, had a strange weakness for cute boys, Key included. Jonghyun, Key's brother, had a weakness for cute girls. Yuri had a weakness for men who played sports. Taemin had a weakness for Yoona and Sulli. Yoona had a weakness for clothing. Sulli had a weakness for movies. Minho, her cousin, had a weakness with water; he couldn't swim, even though he was the best at every sport. She knew all these weaknesses by stopping and observing. But no matter how long she stalked Key and watched his every move, she couldn't find that weakness that every human being had. He didn't have a weakness for cute things, he didn't have a weakness for food ( much like herself ), and he didn't have a weakness for physical activities. He was just perfect; and that intrigued her.

Best friends. Not just friends, but _best friends_. They'd only reached that level because of their curiosity for each other.

Their class ended in no time at all, and they were off to their next class. Sooyoung was oddly quiet next to Key, which ultimately meant she was planning an elaborate plan of some kind. He groaned. "What are you plotting now?"

Sooyoung looked at him briefly. "You know how we're going to the mall this Saturday with Nicole?" Key nodded, so she continued. "I feel like I have to buy her a birthday present. She's turning nineteen."

"When's her birthday?" he asked. Sooyoung shrugged.

"Next Wednesday. I always get her a present, and I'm just thinking about what I should get her."

That was another thing Key liked about Sooyoung; she was kind and compassionate towards those she loved. Though she would never outwardly reveal it, she secretly loved Nicole and her over dramatic reactions to everything. She had known Nicole since preschool, and the two had been paired up together throughout the years. Nicole and Sooyoung called each other frenemies, but Key saw them as sisters.

"What are _you_ thinking about?" Sooyoung asked him when he didn't supply an answer.

Key shrugged. "Nothing much. If I told you, you'd hit me anyway."

"Now that makes me really curious," she grumbled, turning to him with that glint in her eyes. Key gulped; he knew what was coming next.

Sooyoung stood up on her tip-toes and came as close to his face as possible, flustering him. He blushed a deep red and tried to pull away, but she had a firm hold on his shoulders. She stared evilly into his eyes. "Tell me what you were thinking!"

Sooyoung had discovered this torture method in their freshman year of high school; if she invaded Key's personal space to an extreme extent, he became twitchy and uncomfortable. She used the method often to get what she wanted out of him – whether it be a secret, or just plans she wasn't included in. if she pushed herself into his personal bubble, he would cave and tell her. Of course, some times he was able to resist; this didn't count as a weakness in her book. Everyone hated their space bubble ruptured.

"I was just thinking that you and Nicole were actually more like sisters than good friends!" he admitted in a rush.

Sooyoung gasped and punched his shoulder. "That woman? My sister? Never!"

Key rubbed his shoulder in agitation. "I knew you'd hit me."

"Then you shouldn't have been thinking it in the first place! I know you think otherwise, but Nicole and I are frenemies. Right, Nicole?"

They had just walked up to the girl in question, who had an eyebrow raised at their banter. At Sooyoung's question, she quickly and firmly nodded her head. Sooyoung smiled victoriously. "See? She agrees."

"Key, Sooyoung and I could never be friends. We hate each other too much," Nicole joked, high-fiving her so called frenemy. Sooyoung hooked her arm through Nicole's and turned away from Key, waving to him. "We'll see you at lunch, then!"

Key waved back, shaking his head at the two. He hung out with such weirdoes.

He turned on his heel and decided to head off to his next class, falling into a casual pace as he pushed through the crowd, waving to people here and there. He was just about to enter his next class when someone slammed into his back, burrowing his or her face into his jacket. Key turned, ready to tell the person off, but realized that it was just Taemin.

"Hide me!" his brother hissed, just as Yoona and Sulli passed by. They seemed utterly confused as they looked left and right in the hallway, looking for the boy hiding behind him. He waved to them as they passed, tapping Taemin's shoulder to let him know that he was safe.

"What did they do this time?" he asked his younger brother, stepping into his classroom. Luckily, they shared the class.

"They wanted me to skip English and head to the roof for 'vocal exercises'." Taemin groaned quietly, so no one could hear. He used air quotations for emphasis. Key chuckled.

"Then I'll let you off easy. Those two are pretty ruthless," he mused. Taemin nodded vehemently in agreement, taking out his notes.

"You don't even know," he mumbled under his breath, just as Jonghyun slid into the seat next to Taemin.

"Hey, Jjong. How was girl hunting?" Key asked his brother, offhandedly taking notes. Jonghyun shrugged.

"Didn't go this morning. I spent most of it with Jessica," he answered, copying his brother. Key's pen stopped on the page and he looked up at Jonghyun in disbelief. Taemin looked genuinely surprised. "What?" Jonghyun asked under his brother's inquisitive gazes.

"You're finally settling down," Taemin said in shock. Key nodded, unable to speak.

Jonghyun frowned. "Am not. She's just a friend. Our relationship is kind of like Key and Sooyoung's," he said. Key raised his eyebrow.

"If your friendship is like mine and Sooyoung's, then you obviously have a thing for this girl." He pointed out. Jonghyun groaned.

"I'm not romantically interested in her! I just – oh hi, Jessica."

Taemin and Key raised an eyebrow as a pretty girl with light brown hair approached them, pushing up her red-rimmed glasses. She smiled and waved pleasantly to Jonghyun, sitting next to him. Taemin turned to Key, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. _This_ was the girl that captured Jonghyun's interest? She certainly didn't fit his style.

The brothers were further puzzled by Jonghyun's actions around her; he suddenly became very pleasant, making calm jokes and complimenting her like a gentleman. He even went as far as asking for her help during the lesson; Jonghyun_never_ paid attention in class. By the end of class, Taemin and Key were burning with questions; but Jonghyun ignored them, sending them looks.

"Jessica, these are my brothers, Key and Taemin. Key, Tae, this is Jessica," he introduced. The girl in question – Jessica – bowed politely and waved, her head ducked down. Key rose to his feet and waved back.

"Jessica, Annyeong! I'm Kibum, but please call me Key." He greeted, making eye contact with Jonghyun momentarily, sending him a look to explain later. Jonghyun made the smallest of all nods. After shaking Key's hand, Jessica turned to Taemin, bowing to him. He smiled back and waved.

"Taemin can't speak. He's mute," Jonghyun clarified at Jessica's confused expression. She nodded her head in understanding and smiled apologetically.

"It's nice to meet you. Jonghyun talks about you two a lot," she admitted, smiling sheepishly. Key raised an eyebrow towards his older brother.

"They'd better be good things," he said, a slight edge to his voice. Jonghyun raised his arms up in surrender.

"Oh, yes, he's always praising you. And from what I can see, he has a special fondness for Taemin," Jessica consoled. Key snickered as Taemin looked up, a bit pleased. He smirked evilly at Jonghyun who was blushing, pushing Jessica away.

"Ok! We'd better go, then. Bye, twerps," he bid, pushing Jessica out of the room. Key laughed as Taemin quietly snickered, collecting their things.

"I can't believe Jonghyun told her that stuff. He's clearly crushing on her," Taemin whispered. He seemed to be in a brighter mood after what Jessica revealed to him.

"I can't believe he has a fondness for you. I thought you were _my_ baby brother," Key joked, earning a light slap on the shoulder. Taemin chuckled quietly.

"I'm everyone's baby brother. I just like you most," he said quietly. Key smiled smugly and threw an arm over his shoulder.

"You best believe it. Let's head to lunch."

They waltzed out of the room together, effectively making a few girls stop, joking and laughing (silently, in Taemin's case) all the way to the cafeteria. After they picked up their food, they headed to their usual table in the center of the room, only to find it with an extra addition.

Jessica looked a little out of place sitting next to Jonghyun, quietly eating a cookie from her packed lunch. She was staring around the table curiously as well; it certainly was a lot to take in for a newbie in the group. Yoona and Sulli – once they finally caught sight of Taemin – were screeching at him from across the room for leaving them; Taemin in turn sighed dejectedly and pulled out his phone, typing his excuse. Key sandwiched himself in between Nicole and Sooyoung, who were having another argument about something she didn't really understand since her Korean wasn't great. Yuri looked like the only normal person at the table, quietly reading a book while taking small sips of her soup. She pushed herself into Jonghyun's side, a bit confused.

Key chuckled at her reaction; of course she'd be a little scared. It wasn't like she knew she was in the presence of four Sirens, but their aura was great. When the family was together, they carried a feeling of awe and reverence. She was probably just overwhelmed by the feeling, and needed a little while of getting used to it, like Sooyoung, Yoona, Sulli, and Nicole. He believed that Jonghyun would take good care of her anyway and turned away from their newest addition, tuning back into Sooyoung and Nicole's argument.

"It's not a matter of if you can swim, it's a matter of when you can –"

"That's not what you implied, you just openly challenged me to a swim race."

"No, Sooyoung, I didn't-"

"Don't tell me you're chicken, Nicole – "

"Oh please, don't start that with me –"

"Chicken! Nicole's a chicken!"

"Sooyoung, stop it! I'll take part in your little challenge, but don't cry when I destroy you," Nicole seethed. Sooyoung jumped to her feet, the heat of competition strong in her eyes. There was no talking her out of this.

"Key, you come be judge!" they both shouted, latching onto each of his arms. He watched sadly as his chopsticks slipped out of his hands and onto the floor, dumping his next bite everywhere. He turned and glared at the two.

"No. you both just killed my lunch and my mood," he growled. Sooyoung sneered at him.

"Who cares? Come on, Key! You know Nicole and I never can come up with a proper victor if you're not there," she pushed. Nicole nodded firmly.

Key quickly shared a look with Yuri and Jonghyun, who were both eyeing him wearily. The message was clear in their gazes; _don't get wet_. There weren't many hiding spots at school if the situation was needed. So he'd have to be extra careful. He gave his siblings a firm nod and allowed himself to be picked up by the bickering friends.

"Alright, alright! I'll meet you by the pool."

Sooyoung and Nicole were gone in a flash; he sent another look of caution to his siblings before fingering his phone in his pocket; they understood. If he was to get wet, then he would call them immediately, and they would have to come help him. Jonghyun gave a firm nod and quickly turned back to Jessica, trying to keep her curiosity under control as she stared after Sooyoung and Nicole. Yuri smiled behind her book.

"Tell me who wins later," she told him, a secret message to tell her if he came out human instead of with a fin and gills. He nodded.

"Will do. See you later, Tae. Take care of him, You two!" he said, directed towards Yoona and Sulli. Their former curious gazes changed into looks of determination as they saluted him. Taemin's inquisitive gaze quickly dulled as he stared down at his Tuna in disdain.

Key sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking slowly towards the general area of the pool. How could he do this without getting wet? He'd have to stay a good distance away from the water, but then Sooyoung and Nicole would yell at him for not being a proper judge. He couldn't stand close to the pool side and risk getting splashed either. He decided that he'd just have to follow his judgment and move around the pool, avoiding the water.

He just reached the pool as Sooyoung and Nicole were talking to the Swim Coach, asking him if they could use the pool; the conversation seemed to be heading in the right direction, because a few seconds later, Sooyoung and Nicole were at the starting line, ready to go. They had both already changed into the bathing suits the school offered for the swim team, and fierce determination blazed beneath their goggles.

"Alright then, first one there and back wins, free styling," Key announced to them. They both nodded, tensing.

"On your mark, get set, GO!"

Key automatically flinched away from the pool as Sooyoung and Nicole leapt in, quickly starting their race. As they got to the middle of the pool, he moved to their starting point, carefully avoiding larger puddles of water. He watched them slam into the far wall at almost the same time before pushing off, quickly coming back to his side; he took a giant step back to avoid the splash as the resurfaced in front of him, smiles alight on their faces.

"Who won, who won, who won?" they begged, bouncing up and down on the wall. Key took another giant step back for good measure.

"I couldn't tell. You tied," he said evenly. Sooyoung turned to Nicole, climbing out of the pool.

"One more time!" she declared angrily, stepping back onto the platform. Nicole was right behind her. Key sighed and went to one of the benches around the pool, leaning back on it.

"Ready, go!"

The frenemies continued for another five laps; at last, when the fifth round came and Nicole's hand barely reached the wall a second before Sooyoung's, Key decided to call it quits; he dubbed Nicole winner and planned on heading back to class when the unthinkable happened.

Sooyoung angrily splashed him with the pool water, pouting; it was meant to be a playful, frustrated action had he been human. But as soon as the water touched his skin, he started to panic; he pulled his phone out and immediately called Yuri and Jonghyun on a three way before trying hopelessly to wipe the water away. It was too latte however. His legs were tingling and he could already see the pink and purple shimmer of his scales coming in around his ankles.

"Key?" Sooyoung called wearily. She noticed his distress and pulled herself out of the water, approaching him. Nicole was right behind her, looking worried. "Key, are you alright?"

Key turned to her, dripping wet from her recent swim, and flinched, taking three giant steps back. "Don't touch me!" he screeched before running off, willing his legs to work for him. His scales were coming in brighter and brighter, and he felt his toes come together in his shoes; he stumbled awkwardly through the crowded hallways, trying to get away.

"Key!" Sooyoung called after him, but he couldn't turn back now. He had to run, had to get away. He luckily bumped into Jonghyun at the perfect time; Yuri was right behind him.

"Go to the gardens; I'll clear it out. Yuri will wait with you while I distract everyone," Jonghyun said urgently, grabbing his brother's arm and pulling him along. Yuri grabbed his other and helped.

Key decided to fake an illness of some kind just to dispel the curious looks he was receiving from the humans lining the halls; he clutched his stomach and pretended to throw up in his mouth, which effectively pushed some people back in disgust. Yuri quickly caught on to his idea and mumbled 'Nurses Office' under her breath as they ran; eventually, students let them pass in peace.

They barely managed to get to the garden and behind the rose bushes when Key fell flat on his face with a pink and purple fin glimmering in the sunlight behind him; Yuri crouched down and helped him sit up while Jonghyun ran to the main area of the garden to distract the nearby students.

"What happened?" Yuri asked in a quiet voice. They could hear Jonghyun singing loudly from afar; as soon as he began, they knew that Key was safe from human eyes.

"It was going so well, then Sooyoung splashed me at the last second. I let my guard down to early," he sighed, displeased with himself. Yuri gave him a gentle pat on his tail fin, which already began to retract; he was already dry anyway.

"I yelled at her. Ugh, she's gonna feel so bad now," he groaned, burying his face into his arms. Yuri gave him another consoling pat.

"Just meet up with her later and tell her you have a fear of water. That's what Jonghyun tells most of the girls he dates," Yuri offered sweetly. Key sighed in frustration.

"She's still going to be beating herself up over this, I know it." His tail had slowly turned back into feet. Yuri reached over and picked up his shoes, which had been pushed off during the transformation.

"Just be gentle with her. Sooyoung may be a violent, competitive person, but she's still human; just appeal to her more sensitive nature," she cooed, just as the last of his scales retracted back under his skin. He stood up, dusting his jeans off. **(A/N: their clothes transform with them.)**

"I hope you're right, Yuri Noona." He sighed. They climbed back into the main area of the garden, gathering Jonghyun's attention; he leapt off of the bench he had been standing on, cutting his song off mid-lyric. The girls that were surrounding him all sighed contently.

"Are you alright?" he asked nervously. Key nodded.

"I'm ok now. Just a little accident," he sighed. Jonghyun ruffled his hair.

"At least we got there in time. That could have ended badly," he mused. Key could see the relief pouring out of him. He smiled at his brother and pushed his hand away.

"That's what family is for, I guess. You guys better head to class."

Jonghyun and Yuri nodded, each giving him a hug before waving, running back towards the campus; the crowd of girls instantly followed after Jonghyun, still transfixed and under his spell, leaving the garden empty. Key need time to clear his mind, so he decided to skip class and sat down on a bench, watching the butterflies dance over the flowers.

That moment was too close for him. Much too close of a call.

* * *

Jessica couldn't really believe it herself, but Jonghyun wasn't bad company.

He was actually pretty fun to be around; his jokes were classic, his questions were simple and easy to answer, and he seemed honestly interested in her rants. He would help her by correcting her Korean, and she would help him with his English. He didn't tease her like everyone else when she got a saying wrong or asked him to repeat himself when she didn't understand, but instead he would give her a playful look and help her as best he could. Jessica felt like she was seeing a whole new person; he wasn't the seductive playboy she thought he was, just a misunderstood man who was searching for that perfect girl.

Their friendship seemed to get really close overnight; he came to her immediately in the morning and decided to walk her to class, asking her a bunch of different questions in an attempt to get to know her better. He would joke and she would laugh, and they would talk. It was as simple as that. By lunch, he had invited her to sit with him and his family.

Although they were quite an interesting bunch – interesting being the understatement of the century - she couldn't find it in her to get close to them. Key was friendly enough, but he was obviously busy with Sooyoung and Nicole, who scared her. Taemin couldn't speak, so that just screamed awkward if she started a conversation, and he was busy with Sulli and Yoona, who never seemed to shut up. Yuri was a valid option, but she only muttered a quiet 'Hello' and went back to reading. She felt so outcasted. Of course, Jonghyun was quick to console her and try to bring her into the conversation, but she just couldn't talk to his family.

While he was walking her to her next class, she vented everything to him; Jonghyun devoured the information greedily. When she was finished, he frowned and turned away, thoughtful.

"Well, I understand you feeling awkward with Taemin. Everyone's awkward with Taemin except Yoona and Sulli. And I understand you feeling scared of Sooyoung and Nicole too, since those two are pretty crazy. But I promise you, if you give them a chance, Yuri and Key are amazing people," he told her with a smile. She sighed.

"I don't know, Jjong. Key seems nice enough, but he's always with Sooyoung. I've seen her before, and she's outrageously violent. And Yuri never seems to talk outside of you and your brothers," she gave another sigh of defeat. "Maybe I shouldn't sit with you guys. I'll be fine outside in the garden."

Jonghyun looked offended. "Nonsense! Just give them a chance, Sica! You'll love them, I promise!"

Jessica looked to him wearily. Sure, he believed that she would automatically form some sort of bond with his family. But he seemed to forget that she was socially awkward. If people didn't come to her, she didn't go to people; it was just how she lived her life. Living without friends wasn't so bad, anyway. Besides, Jonghyun seemed happy enough to offer her conversations and friendliness. And that was just fine with her.

But Jonghyun was giving her an irresistible puppy dog pout that made her heart beat loudly in her ears; she turned away from him, hiding her blush. "I'll try, then. But no promises," she allowed. Jonghyun grinned.

"Awesome. Why don't I tell you a little about them so you have some background knowledge? For example, if you start on Call Of Duty with Taemin, he can write to you for hours."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. Somehow, she just couldn't imagine that sweet little blonde playing one of the most gruesome games ever created. Jonghyun nodded, confirming her suspicions. "I know. Hard to believe, but true. Anyway, Key will talk about anything; he's kind of a diva."

Jessica could believe that much.

"Yuri is a little hard…but I think if you're nice enough to her, she'll open up. Your best weapon of choice in starting a conversation with her is school. She loves school," Jonghyun said, rolling his eyes. Jessica slapped him playfully.

"What's wrong with school? I like school too," she told him, pouting. Jonghyun rolled his eyes.

"Oh yay, another person who likes school. You like school, Yuri likes school, Key likes school…am I the only one who hates this dang place?" he asked dramatically, making her laugh. She punched his shoulder.

"Maybe if you started paying attention in class more, you'd like it too!" she scolded. He rolled his eyes in response, stopping in front of her next class.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you later, Jessica!"

Jessica waved him off, watching him disappear into the crowd. She might have gotten to know Jonghyun better, but she knew that Key, Taemin, and Yuri would take some cracking; but she just had to trust Jonghyun. If he said they would make friends, she'd just have to hold him to it.

All that was left was for her to just wait and see.

* * *

To say that Sooyoung felt terrible was by far the biggest understatement of her lifetime. She felt horrendous, atrocious, dreadful, and downright awful. Watching Key run off like that after screaming in her face was the worst thing she'd ever experienced. Nicole didn't make anything better, either; she screamed at her right after he did, all together making her feel like a horrific person. She even broke down crying for a bit; but after settling her resolve, she ditched Nicole and her constant hate messages and decided to go track her best friend down to apologize.

Ever since she was little, Sooyoung had a terrible guilty conscience that always kicked in over the smallest of things. If she got yelled at, she felt the need to apologize over and over for doing wrong. If she was scolded for missing a step in a cooking class or a homework assignment, she would repeat the lesson until she got it right. She grew scared of doing the wrong thing.

She pushed herself through the hallways, trying to get rid of the last of her tears. Key couldn't see her crying, he'd feel bad about it, and she couldn't have that on her conscience either; this was her fault, so it was her responsibility to fix it. If she hadn't splashed him with the pool water, they wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place anyway. She took quick peeks into all of his usual classes, searching for him; but when she couldn't spot him anywhere, she gave up and went outside, hoping that he was in the garden.

She stepped into the sunlight of the afternoon, her limbs going weak from worry; she couldn't even bring herself to enjoy the scenery around her, which was remarkably beautiful. Silently praying that he was within the confines of this gorgeous place, she stepped onto the pavement, only to be met with a beautiful song.

The melody seemed to trap her, freezing her in her tracks; a smooth, velvety calm feeling washed through her, and her heart rate immediately slowed, filling her with a sense of peace. Her fingers uncurled and she felt like she was floating; she was in a blissful euphoria of happiness. She briefly wondered if she was dead; but quickly dispelled the thought as her legs moved on their own accord, pulling her closer to the owner of the magnificent voice.

She felt strange; her eyes naturally closed on their own as her feet moved, and as the voice got closer and closer, she could feel her heart pumping faster and faster. Her mind suddenly filled with a fog, and in it, she could barely make out a figure of a person; she was just reaching out when the music stopped, her mind cleared, and her body was back in her control. She stumbled, tripping over her feet, and opened her eyes.

Key sat in front of her, leaning back in one of the benches and staring out into the trees and flowers; he still didn't realize that she was right behind him. Sooyoung started to panic; was that Key she had heard singing? His voice seemed to capture her; just looking at him made her heart skip beats like she had just ran in an erratic, over paced marathon. What was this magic that he had casted on her? Why was she suddenly so flustered?

"What are you doing here, Key?" she whispered. Key jumped, falling off of the bench in surprise; usually, it would have made Sooyoung roll over in laughter, but for some reason, she saw the action..._cute_.

When he realized that it was just Sooyoung, Key breathed a sigh and picked himself up off the ground, sitting back down on the bench; he patted the spot next to him as a welcome. "How long have you been standing there?"

Sooyoung shrugged; she really didn't know. "Not long. I just got here." She answered, taking his offer and sitting beside him. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks at the action; what was wrong with her?

"Oh," Key breathed. He seemed relieved. He looked out into the roses again, becoming thoughtful. "And to answer your question, I was just listening to the Melody of my heart."

_Whatever that means_, Sooyoung thought bitterly. Her mushy gushy thoughts suddenly were pushed out of her mind and she reminded herself of why she was there in the first place; she stood up, bowing politely to him. "I am so, so, so very sorry for splashing you with water earlier."

Key frowned. He knew she would hate herself for it. "It's not your fault. You didn't know. My whole family has this weird fear of water. I know, we live by the beach, but honestly, we're just trying to get over it."

Sooyoung took her seat beside him again. "But still, I am so sorry."

"Sooyoung, stop. It's not your fault, and you shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry, I screamed at you when you did nothing wrong," he mumbled.

"_Oppa_," Sooyoung whined, before quickly covering her mouth with her hands. Key turned to her, flabbergasted.

"Oppa? Since when did you call me Oppa?" he questioned, staring at her curiously.

His eyes were so brown, like melted chocolate; had they always been that warm? Sooyoung shook her head. What was she thinking? What had he done to her with that song? She felt so strange; looking at Key alone was enough to send a blush rising to her cheeks, and she suddenly felt very shy around him. And Oppa? She _never_ called Key Oppa. He was just Key. Key, Key, Key. None of this Oppa business.

"Since now. I don't want you to be mad at me," she said, trying to cover for herself. She let her hair fall past her shoulders in an attempt to hide her blush.

"I'm not mad at you, Soo. Accidents happen," he cooed, throwing an arm over her shoulder and pulling her in for a one armed hug. She felt chills rise on her skin at his touch.

"Accidents happen," she mumbled under her breath. Key nodded and smiled at her; she looked away in embarrassment as heat flooded her cheeks again.

It was certainly no accident that she caught him singing his hypnotic, enticing, wonderful song; and that she had suddenly become painfully aware of how she felt about him.


	7. To the sea!

A few things of notice for the chapter: Sirens don't have marriage or anything. they just find another Siren partner. Also, Sirens are unable to have children; I'll describe why later. And Finally, in this story, The Sirens live in caves in coral reefs. There is no giant underwater city or anything, they just live in caves.

Also, Taeyeon, Sunny, and Hyoyeon are not really sisters; but they were all 'adopted' by Queen Boa, and became her children. You'll see later. :)

* * *

Chapter 7 To The Sea!

Saturday morning came upon the Lee family as it usually did; calmly, gently, like a blanket slowly being pried off after a nice sleep. Taeyeon opened her eyes to find the sunlight streaming in through her blinds; she sat up and stretched, happily welcoming the day.

"Today's the day!" she whispered excitedly, slowly crawling out of bed so as not to wake her sleeping husband. She tip-toed to his side of the bed and giggled quietly at his sleeping form; completely submerged under the covers with nothing but his hairline peeking through. She gave his head a little kiss before slowly making her way to her closet, pulling out the outfit she had chosen days ago and pulling it on.

She looked at the mirror and grinned at her reflection; she decided to wear a nice gold bikini with ruffles at the top underneath a strapless top that wrapped tight around her chest; the perfect fit for a good swim, with a color that matched her tail fins. She finished her look with the seashell necklace her friends had made her years ago, the one she never took off. She pulled on a pair of jean shorts for show before slipping back into the bedroom and to her husband's side.

"Onew…Onew, wake up," she whispered quietly, shaking his shoulder. Her husband rolled over in his sleep, peeking an eye out at her. He yawned sleepily.

"What time is it?" he asked, blinking rapidly in the sunlight. Taeyeon glanced at the clock on their bedside table.

"It's nine in the morning," she whispered sweetly, pushing his hair out of his face. He pulled the covers down and sat up, stretching.

"You're excited, huh?" he asked in amusement. She nodded happily.

"Of course I'm excited; the weekly swim always gives me more energy," she answered, twirling in her spot. She smiled brightly. "I'll go wake up the kids. Can I trust you to make some nice halibut for breakfast?"

Onew chuckled. Fish, always fish. "I'll make some, Taengoo. Don't worry."

Taeyeon smiled at him and gave him a light peck on the lips before practically skipping to her daughter's room, pushing the door open with a loud bang. She heard Onew chuckle from the hall as he made his way downstairs.

Yuri slept peacefully, snuggling up to her many pillows in her princess canopy bed. Her tongue stuck out awkwardly to the side as she quietly snored, taking deep breaths. Taeyeon smiled and pushed her hair out of her face, kissing her forehead.

"Yul baby…Yuri, it's Saturday. Umma needs you to wake up," she cooed. Yuri pulled her tongue back into her mouth and frowned, burrowing her face into her pillows; Taeyeon rolled her eyes.

"Aigoo, Umma! Let me sleep for five more minutes," she whined, her voice muffled by her pillows. Taeyeon rolled her eyes again and pulled the covers off of her only daughter, making her scream from the sudden cold.

"I'm not delaying our swim any longer! Lee Yuri, you wake up this instant!" she commanded. Yuri curled up into a ball in an attempt to keep her body heat in, but her eyes were opened wide and annoyed, glaring at the sunlight as if it was to blame for her sudden chill. Taeyeon, satisfied, gave her a light pat on the shoulder. "Get dressed."

Yuri grumbled incoherent curses under her breath as she rose to her feet and dragged herself to her closet; Taeyeon gave her a firm nod of happiness before closing the door, heading to Key's room.

Key was more pleasant to wake up; he was sleeping peacefully, cradling a pillow in his arms. A smile was alight on his face as he dreamed; Taeyeon almost felt bad waking him up.

Almost.

"Key, wake up," she cooed. Her second son slowly peered up at her, rubbing his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked, slamming his head back onto his pillow.

"Nine am. You have half an hour before Sooyoung gets here," she told him. He sat up and stretched; everything he did reminded her of his father. They were mirrors of each other, really.

"Alright. I'm up."

Taeyeon also gave him a nod before leaving, softly closing the door behind her. Jonghyun usually came next on her list of victims as she pried his door open, spotting the lump under the covers in the bed.

"Jonghyun! Up!"

In response, the lump flattened out and his head appeared, eyes narrowed in the bright light. He looked around, his face scrunched up, and when he spotted his mother, he groaned and fell back into the covers.

"What kind of reality is this?" he grumbled when Taeyeon pulled his covers off, effectively destroying his little cave. He rolled over onto his back and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but to no avail.

"Jonghyun, it's swim day! Come on, I know your Siren blood is as excited as I am!" Taeyeon cheered. Jonghyun glared at his mother.

"My Siren blood wants to sleep," he hissed. Taeyeon rolled her eyes and sat him up, shaking him lightly.

"Uh, Umma! Fine, fine. I'm up, I'm up!" he whined, pushing her away. Taeyeon gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and left her oldest child annoyed and grumpy as he fixed his bed.

The smell of halibut was strong when she stepped back into the hallway; she inhaled it greedily, her mouth salivating. But she couldn't go downstairs yet, there was one last child to take care of. The worst grouchy risers of grouchy risers, Taemin.

She pushed into his room, ready to make the loudest ruckus she could possibly make to wake him up, but she found him under the covers, looking worried as he typed out messages on his phone. Taeyeon sighed delightfully; if he was already awake, then she didn't need to meet his internal monster.

"Taemin, what are you doing?" she asked him, coming up beside him and sitting down. Taemin gave her a quick glance.

"Hi, Umma. Yoona texted me this morning and said that Sulli's brother had to come with us to the movies, so then Sulli started to text me with the same thing, and then they got all confusing and I'm trying to sort out my messages," he answered. Concentrating on his phone. Taeyeon nodded.

"Well, breakfast is ready downstairs when you are," she told him, patting his shoulder. He nodded and waved her off.

"Be down in a sec…"

Taeyeon smiled. That sweet, sweet halibut was hers now.

She literally skipped down their spiral staircase, coming onto the landing with a light thump and continuing to the kitchen. Onew had already finished her plate – a giant cooked fish sat in the middle – and he was currently working on a spicy seafood salad and seasoned kelp for himself and the kids. Taeyeon grabbed her plate, thanking him kindly with a kiss.

Taeyeon was in the brightest mood; she was swimming again, swimming! Her legs were itching to release her scales into her powerful flipper, and she was dying to push it through the waves like a torpedo. She also couldn't wait to see her old friends; Sunny, Hyoyeon, and Eunhyuk, even maybe her old mentor, Boa. The excitement seemed to flow out of her in waves; she quickly started on the fish, hoping to finish it as soon as possible.

Yuri came down stairs looking refreshed; she had cleaned her face and left it without makeup, and decided to wear a light halter-top with beads on it. She gave her Umma a kiss on the cheek as she ravened through her fish and proceeded to the kitchen, taking her share of breakfast. Key was right behind her, wearing a red T-shirt and jeans; he needed to drop Sooyoung and Nicole off at the mall. Taemin came next, still staring at him phone in confusion. Finally, Jonghyun appeared, more awake then before.

Taeyeon felt like jumping off the walls; everyone could feel her excitement. "Umma, what's wrong with you?" Taemin asked curiously. She shrugged.

"I'm just happy. Oh so very happy. You're the best son ever, Taemin!"

Jonghyun and Key shouted out a string of protests while Yuri rolled her eyes and turned to their Appa. He smiled back at her helplessly as Taeyeon grabbed her youngest son and hugged him tightly.

"Umma, let go! I have to leave soon, Yoona says she's ready," Taemin whined, pushing Taeyeon away as she smothered him. She pouted.

Taemin rolled his eyes as he finished his breakfast; he pretty much inhaled the whole meal. When he finished, he took his plate to the kitchen and looked over the kitchen island at his brothers.

"Jonghyun Hyung, can I borrow your car?" he asked, pushing his phone into his pocket. Jonghyun nodded, pointing to the keys on the counter. Taemin nodded joyously and picked them up, heading to the garage.

"You'd better bring it back in one piece!" Jonghyun called after him. Taemin saluted and left with a wave.

Not five seconds after he left, a harsh pounding resonated throughout the house; Sooyoung was here. Key jumped to his feet, finishing his last bite, and ran to the door, letting her in. she seemed a little annoyed.

"Umma, Appa, Annyeong!" she called cheerfully at the sight of Key's parents. They smiled at her and waved. Sooyoung gave a smaller wave back and greeted Jonghyun and Yuri as well before addressing Key.

"Ok. So Nicole's been sending me a long string of curses and death threats because we're taking so long. She keeps saying that if we delay any longer, the shoes will be gone," she said, rolling her eyes. Key chuckled and grabbed his keys.

"Then let's not keep her waiting." He waved to his family, winking to Taeyeon; he was coming for the swim a bit later.

Yuri quietly finished her food and sat back with the remaining members of her family, waiting patiently for the sounds of Key's tires to disappear. When they were satisfied, Taeyeon leapt to her feet.

"No more delays! To the beach!" she declared, rushing to the door. Onew followed after her with Yuri and Jonghyun in tow.

They marched across the beach, ignoring the looks of awe from the early beach commutes as Taeyeon led them to their usual rendezvous. Yuri flipped her hair over her shoulder and tied it up into a ponytail on the way there, and Jonghyun stretched out his limbs; the waded into the shallow waves of the ocean, feeling their transformation coming in. Yuri sat down, waiting patiently for her scales to slide over her feet. She pushed herself further and further out into the ocean just to be sure that no one was watching her.

Jonghyun was already off into the sea, a dark blue fin glimmering in the ocean waves; his transformations didn't take that long since he was more Siren than human. When Yuri looked down at her fin – a beautiful mix of blue and gold – to find it completely come in, she quickly chased after her brother.

Taeyeon smiled and stepped away from the ocean, continuing towards the tide-pools on the other side of the beach. She couldn't just rush into the water like her kids did, especially since she was full-siren. A single drop of water would send her into immediate transformation, and then the people of the beach would freak out. No, she had to be secretive about her return to sea. She had just started climbing up the tedious hill when Onew took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

No matter what, Onew was there for her. He had always been there for her, ever since her first swim with him; he would dive in after her and stay with her for as long as she needed. It was something she loved about him. His care, his gentleness. He was the one who discovered the tide-pools for her to leap from; it was away from human eyes, and a direct leap into the sea. She gave his hand a tender squeeze back as they approached the cliff ledge, beyond the tide-pools.

"I'll be right behind you," he promised as she stepped up to the ledge. The sea-breeze played with her hair as she took a deep breath and jumped, executing a perfect swan dive into the water below. As soon as the ocean spray hit her face, she could feel the tickling, the pricking of her skin. When she looked at her legs under the water, they had already been replaced with a beautiful, shimmering gold tail fin.

Onew kept his promise and was right there beside her instantly, the water filtering into his lungs like air. She took his hand and smiled. Onew let her pull him along in the water; he wasn't the one with the fancy fish fin, after all.

They spotted Jonghyun and Yuri in no time at all, twirling and flipping under the water as they threw bits of coral at each other. Yuri took notice of her parents first and pushed Jonghyun, making him stumble and drop all of his coral. He watched them sink in sadness before joining his family.

"Have you two seen Sunny or Hyoyeon yet?" Taeyeon asked them. They both shook their heads. "Maybe their farther out…they should come soon."

"By the way, was that dead coral or did you pick it?" Onew asked sternly. Yuri and Jonghyun hung their heads in shame. "You guys need to stop killing the reefs."

Yuri shared a look with her brother and bowed. "Sorry, Appa."

Onew ruffled their hair. "It's ok. Just don't do it again," he chided. Jonghyun grinned.

"Come on, Yul. We've got Sirens to find," he called, quickly paddling out of his father's grasp. Yuri nodded and gave chase.

Taeyeon watched her kids swim away at Siren speed, twirling and flipping through the water, and decided to follow them; she took Onew's hand and paddled out, deeper and deeper into the ocean.

The water was warm under the sun's rays; and the farther they traveled, the clearer and more pristine the ocean became. The water turned from a murky greenish blue to a clear, crystalline sky blue that glistened under the sun; they were far enough away from land to avoid human eyes. The ocean life below them was teeming and endless; the coral reefs were tall here, mixing colors like pink, blue, and purple in one giant rock formation that towered over them if they stood on the ocean floor. Schools of different fish swam in and out of the little openings, following each other in a never ending line; the sea anemones and starfish clung to the rocks. Dolphins and sea turtles wove in and out of the water as well, playing with each other; she watched as her children rolled with them, laughing and playing tag. Taeyeon smiled, releasing Onew's hand and doing a three sixty spin in the water, loving the feeling it gave her.

"Taengoo!"

She stopped her spin just as two Sirens crashed into her, wrapping her in a bone crushing hug; she laughed and hugged them back happily.

"Auntie Sunny, Auntie Hyoyeon!" Yuri cried, quickly swimming up to them. The opened their arms up for her, giving her a hug. Jonghyun waved from afar, waiting patiently next to his father; he didn't like their hugs since they left his ribs aching.

"And Onew, too! Say hi for us, Taeyeon!" Sunny cried, waving wildly and splashing her bright red tail around in a frantic manner. Onew waved back, knowing that she meant well; he couldn't understand the clicking Siren language his wife, sisters-in-law, and children were speaking. Hyoyeon swam towards the men, grabbing Jonghyun and hooking an arm around his neck, effectively choking him and giving him a noogie. She flipped him, slamming him down onto the sea floor and pinning his tail to the ground with her hands before smirking at him.

"What's wrong with you, boy? Not happy to see us?" she joked, releasing him. Jonghyun coughed, glaring at his aunt. He swam a good distance away, his mood sour.

"No, I'm happy!" he denied. Yuri chuckled, coming up behind him.

"Jonghyun is just sore because Eunhyuk Oppa didn't come," she commented, ducking and spinning away from him as he lunged for her. She stuck her tongue out and hid behind Onew. Hyoyeon laughed.

"Eunhyuk? He's coming, don't worry. He's just helping the new baby come along."

Taeyeon perked up at the sound of new kids; Sirens didn't give birth like normal humans did, but rather, the children seemed to appear magically in giant conch shells. Every new child discovered was given to a pair of Sirens who would 'adopt' the child, becoming their parents. She pulled away from Sunny and swam up to Hyoyeon, taking her hands.

"You have children now?" she asked gleefully. Hyoyeon smiled brightly.

"Yup! Her name is Seohyun, and she is the cutest, most innocent little Siren you ever will meet! She reminds me so much of you," she sighed. Sunny jumped in.

"She reminds me of Onew more than Taeyeon; Taengoo has her violent streaks," she joked. Taeyeon made a move to slap her, but Sunny twirled away. Instead of giving chase, Taeyeon swam back to Onew and hugged him, twirling around; the unexpected motion caught him off guard, and he was sent reeling in dizziness.

"Onew, I'm an aunt now! Hyoyeon has a daughter!" she cried in Korean, happily twirling with him. Yuri and Jonghyun perked up at the news, swimming up to Hyoyeon joyfully.

"We have a new cousin?" they asked in unison. Hyoyeon laughed, pulling both of them in for a hug.

"Yes you do! And she's adorable! Look, there she is now!"

They all turned to see Hyoyeon's Siren partner, Eunhyuk, tightly clutching a baby Siren's hand and gently pulling her along. She was about the size of a ten year old human, with long black hair that fell in waves in front of her face and dark, piercing brown eyes. Her tail was a glistening purple color, shining brighter than the adults because of her young age. She looked at the Sirens around her fearfully before catching sight of Onew.

"Human," she muttered in Siren. Eunhyuk nodded as Taeyeon came up in front of her, treading water.

"Hello, sweetie! I'm your auntie, Taeyeon!" she introduced kindly. Seohyun looked at her before smiling and pointing at her flipper. Taeyeon brought it around, sending the sunlight off of her gold scales. Seohyun gasped and laid a hand on it, amazed.

"So pretty!" she cried. Yuri and Sunny squealed from her cuteness as Hyoyeon swam up to her other side, taking her free hand.

"This is auntie Taeyeon, Seohyun. She's like auntie Sunny. And these are your cousins, Yuri Unnie and Jonghyun Oppa," she cooed. Seohyun digested the words and looked around at all the smiling faces. She grinned.

"Auntie Taeyeon! Yuri Unnie! Jonghyun Oppa!" she called cheerfully. Yuri and Sunny squealed again. Seohyun looked around happily until her eyes spotted Onew again. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Human?" she asked Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon nodded and looked at Taeyeon, who understood.

She quickly swam over to her husband, taking his hand; Onew didn't protest as she pulled him over to the small Siren gathering. He smiled to Seohyun and waved; she hid behind Eunhyuk's legs in response.

"Ok, Seohyun sweetie? This is your Uncle Onew." Taeyeon started slowly. Yuri and Jonghyun came to their side, Yuri extending her tail fin as Seohyun stared at it. The little girl nodded in understanding as she grabbed Yuri's scales.

"Uncle Onew is human?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yes, uncle Onew is human. Auntie Taeyeon loves Uncle Onew, so she moved to land," Sunny cooed. Seohyun nodded in understanding.

"Auntie Taeyeon, Uncle Onew, Yuri Unnie, and Jonghyun Oppa live on land?" she asked. Taeyeon leaned back, surprised; she certainly was smart for a new soul. Hyoyeon smirked at her reaction.

"She's really bright. Not at the normal level of Siren intelligence. Boa says she's more excelled. She's taking your old place as her student, and they've already found a suitor for her; Sunny's taking care of him. His name is Yonghwa." She explained. Taeyeon nodded, in awe.

"Seohyun, do you want to go for a swim?" Yuri asked, lightly touching her cheek. The little girl looked up to Eunhyuk for an answer; he nodded and smiled.

"Ok, hold on to my tail, ok?" Yuri told her. Seohyun took a tight grip around her flipper as Yuri took off, at a slow, casual pace. Jonghyun followed behind her to make sure the little girl didn't fall. Onew and Taeyeon watched after them, reminiscing.

"They remind me of the day Jonghyun turned one," Onew whispered, watching his children laugh and play with the baby Siren. Seohyun released Yuri's tail onto to flip and spin wildly into Jonghyun's awaiting grasp. The three of them laughed. Taeyeon nodded.

"I swam like that with him. I remember," she sighed blissfully. She leaned her head on his shoulder and let him wrap his arms around her. That day marked the beginning of a Siren love for humans; when news of Taeyeon's half-siren, half-human child reached the underwater cities, many Sirens were baffled and amazed; Taeyeon hadn't returned to sea for nearly an entire year because she was taking care of Jonghyun's human side above land; she had to keep her supply of water up through their bathtub, which was cramped and too small for her tastes. When Jonghyun finally turned one in human years, Taeyeon decided it was time for his first swim; an entire city of Sirens had come out to see the anomaly that was Jonghyun.

It certainly wasn't Onew's fondest memory; he remembered how the Sirens had looked at him, licking their lips and flashing their pointed teeth at him, ready to take a bite. But he could never say he hated the memory, either. Taeyeon had been by his side, protecting him all the way to Queen Boa, who gave Jonghyun her blessing. She held his hand and cradled the little baby Siren that was Jonghyun in her other; he remembered. Almost immediately after Boa blessed little Jonghyun, he could feel the tense atmosphere evaporate; and instead of carnivorous looks, some Sirens started to whisper and point. He was human, but he was able to supply Siren children, which was very rare; a Siren child only appeared once every five Siren years, which was a very long time. It shocked the Sirens, and they suddenly had a new respect for humans.

Everything changed for them all as the Sirens stood back and watched Taeyeon train Jonghyun how to swim; he had giggled and flipped his little dark blue flipper wildly, still unable to control it. It was endearing, watching the baby Siren – he was no bigger than a six year old human with barely any hair – splashing around, laughing and spinning with his mother. But Onew gained utmost respect – and even a little fame – when Jonghyun called out to him in Korean, swimming into his father's arms. The Sirens had watched the action in complete awe, staring at Baby Jonghyun laugh wildly as Onew tickled his tail fin. It proved that Humans weren't just food. They were so much more.

Sunny ruined the perfect moment by swimming up in front of them, her eyes sparkling. Taeyeon blinked in surprise.

"Oh! Oh! Taeyeon, I need to tell you the most amazing thing ever!" Sunny cried, pulling her attention. The couple turned to her, raising an eyebrow as she flapped her fins wildly and threw her hands up in the water.

Hyoyeon and Eunhyuk shared a look and rolled their eyes. It seemed like the story was told many times before. Yuri and Jonghyun stopped as well, picking up Seohyun and swimming back to the group. Jonghyun cradled Seohyun tightly to his chest as the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Ok, So the other day, I got a little bit too close to shore because I was shark hunting, and I accidentally ran into a rock; I think I screamed, because out of nowhere, a human jumped into the water and tried to help me. He was _soooo_ cute!" she squealed. Yuri raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know who it was?" she asked. Sunny shook her head.

"I didn't get his name because in the heat of the moment, I panicked and swam away. But his eyes were so gentle and warm…gah, he was so Cute, you don't even know."

"Sunny, maybe this is finally the start of your romance!" Taeyeon gushed. Sunny blushed, grabbing her cheeks and spinning, her tail continuing to flap wildly in the water.

"I hope so! I'm always a third wheel to Hyoyeon and Eunhyuk, and none of these Siren men interest me! Maybe I can be the second Siren to take claimage on land…Oh, Taeyeon, you have to teach me the human language so I can talk to him!" she cried. Hyoyeon laughed, smacking her.

"She's been going up to shore ever since; I'm pretty sure she needs your help. But I want to learn too! I always feel so bad leaving Onew out of the conversations," she said, sending a look to the human in question. Taeyeon giggled and pulled away from his embrace, taking his hand.

"You're going to learn Korean? We can help!" Yuri exclaimed, perking up. Jonghyun nodded.

"Then let's have lessons every weekend! We'll be pros after a few weeks, and as long as Sunny here learns the basics, I'm pretty sure she'll be fine," Hyoyeon cheered.

"So first things first…annyeonghaseyo. It means Hello," Yuri interjected. Onew perked up.

"Are you teaching them Korean?" he asked. Taeyeon nodded; he smiled brightly.

"I think I would be the best teacher for that; I taught you, didn't I?" he said with a laugh. Taeyeon gave him a light punch.

"Then teach them like you taught Umma, Appa!" Jonghyun and Yuri cried. Seohyun squirmed in Jonghyun's arms, so he let her down.

"Annyeonghaseyo, Uncle Onew!" she said calmly. Hyoyeon stared at her in wonder.

"She's amazing," Eunhyuk commented, ruffling his daughter's hair. Seohyun giggled happily. Onew gave her a wide smile and waved to her; this time, she returned it.

"So that's hello…I'm one step closer to having half-human babies of my own!" Sunny cheered loudly. Taeyeon blushed, smacking her sister in embarrassment. Hyoyeon, Eunhyuk, and Sunny laughed.

"Eunhyuk Hyung! I'll race you!" Jonghyun declared suddenly, breaking the awkward tension. A wicked grin formed on Eunhyuk's face as he flipped his dark green fin back and forth in the water, like a propeller. Jonghyun tensed in a ready position.

"Please, Boys. No one swims faster than me," Yuri boasted, joining her brother and uncle. She left Seohyun in her mother's care. Both men gave her a look before chuckling, drawing a line in the sand below; Hyoyeon took Seohyun to the other side of the coral reef, raising her hand and waving to let them know where the finish line was. Taeyeon took Onew with Sunny's help to the other side, cheering for their children.

"Yeah, well prove it!" Jonghyun growled, falling behind the line. Eunhyuk grinned evilly.

"On the count of three. One…two…"

"Three!"

The three of them sped off, pounding their fins into the water and pushing their limits as hard as possible; they were the three most competitive Sirens alive, and losing was not an option for any of them as they swam, weaving in and out of the coral rocks, pushing through the forest of rock as the finish line came into their sights. Yuri grinned as she dived through a tight squeeze in the coral, effectively giving her an edge as her competitors went around the opening. She was seconds away from the finish line – where Hyoyeon and Seohyun were cheering wildly – when a shadow passed by overhead.

Eunhyuk, Jonghyun, and Yuri all gaped at the winner of the race, completely mind-blown; Key crossed the finish line, literally coming out of nowhere with his bright pink and violet fin glimmering under the waves. He looked exhilarated and excited as he claimed the title of fastest Siren from Hyoyeon, grinning wickedly to his siblings and Uncle; before he could brag about it, Sunny wrapped him in a tight hug.

"It's my Key baby! Oh how are you, sweetie?" she cooed, her voice hitting three octaves higher than normal as she acted cute. Key flinched away from his favorite aunt, slowly returning her hug with an awkward pat on her back.

"I'm great, Sunny Noona. I just had to drop some of my human friends off at the mall," he told her. She squealed and hugged him again, smothering him.

"Oh, my baby Key is so good, putting his friends before fun!" she cooed. Yuri and Jonghyun chuckled, sticking their tongues out at him.

Sunny had a strange obsession with Key since his first swim. When he was just a baby, like little Seohyun, she gained an attachment to him when he gave her the nickname Sunny; her real name being Sunkyu. His exact words were "Auntie Sunkyu is so bright, like the sun! I want to call you Sunny!" and since that moment, Sunny had loved little Key like her own son; she even asked Taeyeon if she could keep him, once. Now, as a teenager, Key could only describe his favorite aunt as eccentric and outgoing, as well as a bit obsessive.

Eunhyuk chuckled and gently pried Key away from her. "Let him breathe, Sunny," he scolded lightly, before high-fiving Key. "That was some fast fin work you had back there."

"You guys always make fun of me because I'm not fit and stuff, but I'm actually the fastest swimmer out of all of you," he boasted. Jonghyun swam up and slapped him on the shoulder.

"It's not fair. That was a cheap shot, sneaking up on us," he complained. Yuri came up beside him.

"I wouldn't say it was a cheap shot, Jjong. Key started out way farther than we did, and he still beat us," she argued. Key hooked an arm over his older sister, nodding.

"Listen to Yuri, Jonghyun! She's always right."

Jonghyun grumbled. "I still think you pulled a cheap shot."

Taeyeon watched her kids argue and play, and soon her smile slowly turned into a frown. It felt wrong, having a family swim with one member of their family missing. Her thought quickly went to Taemin and his cute smile, his kind eyes, and his magnificent voice; she could only wish that someday, she could bring him down with them.

"What are you thinking of?" Seohyun asked her, tugging on her tail fin. Taeyeon belt down to her level, opening her arms for her. She swam into her aunt's embrace without question.

"I'm just thinking about your last cousin," she told her gently. Seohyun cocked her head to the side and pointed to Key, who had acquired a starfish and was trying to stick it to Jonghyun's face.

"That's Key. He's your cousin too, but you have one more; his name is Taemin. He can't swim yet," she told the little girl. Seohyun looked at her in confusion as Sunny and Hyoyeon swam up to her.

"Why can't Taemin Oppa swim?" she asked cutely. Hyoyeon removed her from Taeyeon's arms and gave her an apologetic look. Sunny pouted as well.

"Because he couldn't sing for a while. I haven't brought him down to meet you all."

Seohyun looked even more confused. "Taemin Oppa can't sing? Is he a Siren?"

Sunny answered for Taeyeon, feeling her uncomfortable vibe. "He is a Siren, sweetie. He's just a little different from the others. But I'm sure you'll meet him soon, right Taeyeon?"

Taeyeon nodded, smiling again. Although Sunny was a bit of an overexcited girly girl, she knew just what to say to make her feel better. That was what sisters were for, she guessed. "Right. He'll come down soon."

Key swam up to them, suddenly discovering Seohyun; he released a high-pitched, girl like squeal and picked the girl up into his arms, twirling her; Seohyun giggled joyously.

"Who is this little cutie?" he asked. Yuri came up and pinched her cheeks.

"This is our new cousin, Seohyun. She's Hyoyeon Unnie and Eunhyuk Oppa's daughter," she cooed, just as Seohyun giggled again. Key threw her up into the water, catching her as she floated back down. Jonghyun smiled.

"She reminds me of Taemin when you do that. You use to always throw him up in the air when he was a baby," he said, tickling Seohyun's purple flippers. She squirmed, laughing.

Key suddenly passed the little girl over to Hyoyeon, becoming serious. "Speaking of Taemin, he texted me a little while before I came down here. He says that his date with Yoona and Sulli ended short because Sulli's brother took her home."

Taeyeon sighed. Then it was time to leave. She gave a quick hug to her sisters, tightly squeezing both of them before pinching Seohyun's cheeks. "I'll see you guys next week."

"Can you bring Taemin Oppa?" Seohyun asked cutely. Taeyeon smiled dryly.

"We'll see."

Yuri, Jonghyun, Onew, and Key each gave their family hugs before waving goodbye, watching Sunny, Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon, and Seohyun take off in the water, back to the Siren city further in the coral reef. After they were positive they were safe, Key took his father's other hand, pulling him towards the surface. Taeyeon followed his lead, and the family quickly set off, back towards the beach.

When they hit the cold air of land, the sun had gone down and the beach was empty; meaning, it was past time for the beach to close, which gave them a good place to rest and dry off their fins. The sun was barely in the sky as they dragged themselves onto shore, covering their glistening scales in beach sand. Onew – being the only one with legs at the moment – helped pull each member of his family away from the water before rushing into their house to grab towels.

"I can't believe Hyoyeon Noona has a daughter now," Jonghyun mused when Onew returned. He quickly wiped his tail fin, trying to get dry.

"I know. Seohyun is the cutest thing ever," Yuri cooed, wrapping her hair up so it wouldn't drip.

"Not as cute as Taemin, though. He tops the cake," Key joked. Taeyeon slapped him.

"Of course Taemin is the cutest. He's my baby," she murmured. "I wonder what time he'll be back."

Key shrugged. "Probably soon. The movie theatre is pretty far away."

Taeyeon nodded, leaning back in the sand; she could sit here for a while, especially since her fin – being a full-Siren instead of half, like her kids – didn't dry out that fast. Taemin wouldn't suspect anything if she told him that she went for a walk after losing a nice kill-streak record on Call Of Duty. She nodded, settling her resolve to use that excuse when Key stood up beside her, already dry. He handed his towel to her.

"If Taemin comes home early, I'll distract him. Don't worry, Umma," he soothed. Taeyeon smiled, nodding; she could trust Key to keep Taemin busy.

She sat in deep thought as Jonghyun and Yuri dried out as well; soon, she was left alone with Onew by her side, rubbing soothing circles into her hand. Eventually, as her ankles began to reappear, she leaned onto his lap, closing her eyes.

She loved these moments, the peaceful quiet of the beach with Onew by her side. It reminded her of how many countless times he had comforted her, soothed her, and cared for her. He pushed her bangs out from in front of her face and smiled at her as she grabbed his hand. She didn't know how long she would have survived above land if Onew didn't find her that day in the cave. She owed him her life.

"Come on, Taeyeon. You're dry," he cooed softly, shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked down at her fin, happy to find her legs in their place. Onew helped her up and steadied her as she stumbled in the sand.

"Umma!" Taemin cried from the beach house. He ran over to them, panting. "Key just told me the bad news; do you want me to help you build your kill streak back up?"

Taeyeon nodded, flashing a smile to Key who was hiding on the front porch; he gave her a thumbs up in return. "That would be wonderful, Taemin. Can you set the system up?"

Taemin nodded, smiling brightly. He ran back into the house and slammed the door shut behind him. Onew chuckled. "A Siren that doesn't like killing humans, but finds great pleasure in killing them in video games; You're certainly something else, Taengoo."

Taeyeon grinned, leaning into his shoulder as they wiped their feet on their door mat. She couldn't find much of a response to the statement, so instead, she leaned up on her tip-toes and gave him a long kiss on the lips; he returned it.

"I know I am. But you love me anyway."

Onew chuckled. "I love you anyway," he agreed.

* * *

Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, and Sunny introduced!Can anyone guess who the human was that tried to save Sunny? there was a little hint in the previous chapters... ;P

**A Note:** Sunny's tail fin is a bright red, like crimson.

Hyoyeon's tail is a darker shade of orange, like the sunset.

Taeyeon's tail is a bright, sparkling gold, which is really rare for Sirens.

Yuri's tail is a blueish gold.

Jonghyun's tail is pure blue, like the font above.

Key's tail is pink and violet, like the sky at twilight.

Eunhyuk's tail is dark green, like tree leaves.

And Seohyun's tail is a pretty purple color.


	8. Frenemies

Chapter 8 frenemies

The remainder of Sooyoung's Saturday was a blur; she went with Key to pick Nicole up, they went shopping for three hours, Key left. Nicole complained to her about how much she secretly loved Key and his dimples and his smile and his everything, and for some reason, she secretly agreed; Nicole didn't know. Sooyoung wasn't even really listening to her until she told her that she was planning on confessing; that sent Sooyoung on edge.

"You're going to confess to him?" she asked, a little fearfully. Nicole couldn't detect anything in her voice as she smiled, clutching her recently purchased shoes to her chest.

"Yup. We've known him since freshman year on High school, Sooyoung. I've liked him ever since."

Sooyoung felt a little crushed as well as a little jealous; she'd only recently learned that she had secretly loved her best friend for years, and here Nicole was saying that she fell in love at first sight. She didn't want to give Key to anyone, let alone Nicole; and it wasn't an overprotective, best friend feeling. She couldn't supply an answer to Nicole as they walked through the mall, window-shopping.

"You'll support me, right?" Nicole asked suddenly, turning to her. Sooyoung's eyes widened and she fought the urge to shake her head wildly.

"…S-sure," she squeaked out. "That's what friends…are for."

Nicole squealed in glee; Sooyoung felt like shooting herself. Wouldn't it have been better to reveal her new crush? To tell Nicole that she liked him too? But that would have been selfish; Nicole had liked Key much longer than she had, and she deserved her chance, without Sooyoung's interference. Besides, if they actually did get together, she could be happy.

She was suddenly filled with terrible imaginations. Key accepting Nicole's confession, becoming a couple. Herself being a third-wheel and quickly being cast away. Key and Nicole's wedding, their honeymoon, three kids, a mansion by the beach, and a sports car all flashed through her mind. Where would she be in that scenario? Off to the side, living in a box, getting bit by a dog with rabies and being sent off to the hospital, where she died cold and alone while Key and Nicole and their three kids laughed at her, with their evil little smiles.

She suddenly came jolting back to the present, where Nicole was waving a hand in front of her face with a worried expression.

"Sooyoung? Are you ok? You look like you're in pain," she commented. Sooyoung shook her head, giving her a smile.

"I'm fine…just started thinking about something really…repulsive," she told her, Key's evilly smiling face spinning in her head. She shivered involuntarily and banished the thought.

Stupid Key and his stupid dimples and his stupid smile and his stupid perfection.

"Well…anyway, I want to do it after school on Monday. In the gardens," Nicole continued. She turned to face Sooyoung, completely serious. "I mean, if it's ok with you."

Sooyoung cocked her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he is your best friend. And I know you, Sooyoung, you're a little overprotective. You might say that you're going to help me, but in reality, you're going to feel really bad about it when it happens," Nicole started. Sooyoung opened her mouth to protest, but Nicole raised a finger, silencing her. "So if you could just lead him to the gardens after school on Monday and then leave, that would be great."

Sooyoung pursed her lips. She _really_ didn't like the sound of that. Leaving Nicole and Key alone in the garden would only make her frightening fantasy a reality; she needed to at least be there to see the outcome of Nicole's confession. And maybe go in for the kill if she was rejected-

Sooyoung stopped that thought short. She wasn't confessing to Key anytime soon.

She decided that she was just going to hide behind the corner of the buildings during the event; she gave Nicole a sturdy nod. "Alright then. If you want me to leave, I'll leave."

Nicole eyed her suspiciously, but Sooyoung kept up an innocent look; she knew she passed the test when Nicole turned away, skipping.

"What should I wear? Maybe the halter-top dress with the flower on it that matches my new heels," she gushed. Sooyoung sighed to herself.

For some reason, she felt like she had just dug her own grave; she was helping her frenemy get together with her crush. How did that even work out? Wasn't the best friend supposed to become the girlfriend instead of the snobby, rich, conceited friend with an infatuation? She sighed as she tried to unscramble her thoughts.

She had certainly dug her own grave.

* * *

Sooyoung walked Nicole home before slowly making her way down the road, ignoring the car lights as they passed by her. She tried to focus on her feet taking each step, one after the other, but found her mind wandering back to Nicole and Key. She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, that something she couldn't control would go terribly wrong and her most cherished friendships would go down the drain. But at the same time, she wanted to openly declare war upon Nicole for Key's heart; effectively crushing her lifelong frenemy status and turning it into straight out enemy. She shook her head; she had already decided that she was going to give Nicole this chance. But then why was a part of her so jealous?

She became suddenly alert when a car pulled over in front of her; she quickly made an about-face, ready to run as fast as her legs could carry her when a voice called out to her in the darkness.

"Sooyoung? Is that you?"

She turned back around, confused, to find her cousin; Minho stood in the doorway of his car, beckoning her forward. She quickly ran over and climbed into the passenger seat.

"What are you doing, walking around at night? It's not safe," he chided. Sooyoung sighed, buckling her seatbelt as he pulled back onto the road.

"I don't have a car, Oppa. I can't drive home," she told him. Minho nodded his head in understanding.

"You should have called someone. Like Key."

Sooyoung immediately shook her head. "_Anyone_ but Key," She groaned. Minho raised his eyebrow.

"What, did you have a fight with him?" he asked. Sooyoung sighed and shook her head.

"No. nothing like that."

Minho nodded his head. "So you have a crush on him."

Sooyoung blushed a deep crimson, but she couldn't bring herself to deny the fact; especially in front of Minho, her favorite cousin. Minho could read her like an open book. He used to always joke that she wore her emotions on her sleeve. Lying to Minho would be pointless and stupid, and it would only prove to him even more that she liked Key.

"Aw, baby Soo finally has a crush," he teased. Sooyoung slapped him harshly.

"I can't do anything about it. Nicole is confessing on Monday, and then I'm going to get bit by a dog and die by rabies."

Minho raised his eyebrow. Sooyoung had such an active imagination. "Why don't you just confess before her?"

Sooyoung turned her whole body to face him, a baffled look on her face. "I can't do that! It would crush the very little line of friendship we have!"

"Sooyoung, how do you even know that Nicole is your friend?"

She pursed her lips, turning back to face the windshield with a defeated look. Nicole and Sooyoung's friendship was very hard to describe; they hated each other, but they had each other's back. The fought and competed against each other, but the outcome usually didn't matter to them. "It's complicated. But I just can't do that to her."

Minho sighed, pulling up to her driveway. He stared out at the ocean waves in the darkness. "If you guys can't be truthful to each other, then you aren't really friends."

"I know that. it's just…I've known her my whole life. And she's liked Key longer than I have, so as her friend, I have to give her this chance."

Minho sighed. "All is fair in love and war, Sooyoung. It doesn't matter who liked him first. If you really like him, can you let him go to the one person you don't trust?"

Sooyoung bit her lip. "I just can't Minho. Like I said, I have to give her this chance."

Minho sighed as Sooyoung hopped out of his car. "Alright then, Sooyoung. By the way, Key –"

"CHOI SOOYOUNG, WHAT TIME DO YOU THINK IT IS."

"-Is right behind you," Minho finished lamely as Sooyoung screamed, climbing back into the car and locking the door. She glared at her best friend through the tinted windows. Minho rolled it down for her.

"Key, how many times have I told you not to sneak up behind me like that?" she yelled furiously. Key tapped his foot on the ground impatiently and propped his hands on his hips, glaring right back at her with annoyance.

"Sooyoung, what time did you tell me you would be home?" he asked, his voice deadly calm. Sooyoung stuck her tongue out at him.

"I said I'd be back at five! It's only…"she took a peek at the clock on Minho's dashboard and gulped. "...Eight."

Key nodded, still annoyed. Sooyoung took in his appearance and immediately knew that she was in deep doo-doo. He was wearing his cooking apron – a pink and white checkered piece of fabric with lacey frills and flowers all over it – and a bandana on his head; if he was coming out in what she dubbed his 'housewife' outfit, then he was obviously really worried about her. Key always made sure to come out in public looking crisp and clean, never like his housewife persona. He only ever came out like that when he was really worried or scared.

"I'm back?" she squeaked out pathetically with an apologetic smile. Key glanced at Minho, who nodded. Her cousin unlocked the door and the next thing she knew, Key threw her over his shoulder like a package of flour and stomped off towards her house.

"Bye, Sooyoung! See you at school!" Minho called after her, quickly pulling out of the driveway. Sooyoung squeaked in fear as a response as Key reached into his pocket and retrieved his keys, opening the door to Sooyoung's mansion.

Sooyoung had given him an extra key the day they started college; when her mother decided to pack up and move to Japan, leaving her the mansion. She had invited Key over once to have dinner, and he was appalled by her horrible cooking; ever since, he came by every night to cook her a nice dinner and then help her with her homework. He was probably waiting for her to come home for hours; she suddenly regretted lending him her extra key.

Key threw her onto the ground, brushing past her and heading for the kitchen. Sooyoung rubbed her butt in pain and slipped her shoes off, quickly following after him. She made sure there was enough distance between them just in case he made a swipe at her.

She tip-toed into the kitchen, hiding timidly behind her fridge as Key busied his hands, grabbing pots and pans and setting them on the stove. When he stomped over to the fridge to get the ingredients for dinner, she quickly side stepped out of his path and ducked under her kitchen island; he ignored her and grabbed some vegetables, slamming the fridge door shut.

She watched him from behind the counter, peering over at him with only her eyes showing. He was frustrated, she could definitely see that much, as he cooked some vegetables in a pan while setting rice in the rice cooker. Her poured some sauce into the vegetable mix and let it sit before he grabbed a slab of meat and threw it onto another pan, cooking it. His face was contorted into a complete look of irritation that kept her in place, cowering behind the countertop like the chicken she was. Facing angry Key while he was cooking was never an option; she had to wait for him to finish.

Finally, after twenty long minutes of sitting in a cramped position under the island, Key slammed a plate of cooked vegetables and pork ribs in front of her. She jumped back in surprise and pulled one of the chairs out, taking a seat. He slid a bowl of rice towards her and slammed the chopsticks down on top, shaking the whole counter top. She sat in silence, staring at her food under his angry gaze.

"I'm sorry," she finally whispered. Key didn't move, only stared at her, leaning against the counter.

"Eat." He commanded, pushing the rice closer to her. She timidly grabbed her chopsticks and took a small bite of an onion; it was delicious, as Key's cooking always was. Soon, she was destroying the meal, stuffing it down her throat as fast as she could; she felt like sighing in bliss.

When her plates were clean and her belly stuffed, Key wordlessly took her dirty dishes to the sink and began to wash them, scrubbing them roughly with a sponge; most of his anger seemed to ebb away while he watched her eat. She sat back and stared at the back of his head, feeling her guilty conscience kick in; she slowly got to her feet and approached him, folding her hands in front of her wordlessly.

"Key?" she called lightly, her voice barely coming above a whisper. He didn't respond right away, washing the pot he used before. When he was certain it was spotless, he turned the water off and bent over the sink.

"You don't know how worried I was. I called you fourteen times and you didn't answer even once. I sent you twenty-seven text messages. You never replied. I even drove back to the mall to look for you," he said, his voice deadly quiet. His hands tightened around the sink.

Sooyoung quickly checked her pockets and pulled out her phone; he was right. She had fourteen missed calls, twelve voicemails, and twenty-seven urgent text messages in her inbox. She slipped the device back into her pocket, hanging her head in shame.

"When Minho called me and said that he found you on the side of the road, I almost went out to pick you up myself. Sooyoung, what were you thinking?" he asked, his voice trailing off to a whisper.

"I…I dropped Nicole off at her house. I was walking home," she murmured. Key still refused to look at her.

"From the mall?"

Sooyoung nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to fight the tears pricking the back of her eyes. Key finally turned to face her, his expression dark and his eyes menacing. He ripped the bandana and the apron off before stepping up in front of her, raising his arms.

Sooyoung closed her eyes and whimpered, waiting for the impact of his slap; but instead, she felt his arms wrap around her in a tight hug. Her tears over flowed onto his shoulder as she stood there, sniveling, unable to return his hug because her arms were pinned to her side. Key squeezed her tighter.

"I was so worried… So worried…" he repeated, over and over again.

"I-I'm so sorry, Key!" she cried, fighting to stop her tears. Key didn't say anything and held her there, waiting patiently for her sobs to end. When her rapid snivels became small sniffs, he finally pulled away and grabbed his cellphone from his pocket, dialing a number on speed dial.

"Yuri? Tell Umma that I'm going to spend the night at Sooyoung's. She needs some comfort," he murmured into the line before disconnecting and dropping his phone back into his pocket. Satisfied, he took her hand and lead her to the couch, drying her tears with his sleeves.

"I'll forgive you if you promise to never do something stupid like this again. I hope you know that if Minho didn't find you, you could have been raped, kidnapped, or even killed; I can't lose you like that, Sooyoung," he cooed. Sooyoung nodded, taking a giant sniff.

"I promise."

"Also, promise me you'll keep your ringer on; stop putting your phone on silent," he added before grabbing a few blankets and the TV remote. Sooyoung sniffed again, nodding.

"I promise," she repeated. Key wrapped her up tightly in a blanket and propped her up beside him, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Sooyoung leaned into him, staring blankly at the television screen.

_I can't lose you like that, Sooyoung_. The sentence repeated in her mind, and it made her heart feel light. She knew he was talking about her dying, but the sentence seemed to imply more to her. He couldn't lose her. He _wouldn't_ lose her. Even if he married Nicole, she'd still be his best friend. She wouldn't be out-casted, she'd be by his side, where she belonged. The more she thought of it, the worse her fantasy became; Nicole slowly faded from the picture and their kids began to resemble Sooyoung instead of her; she even gave them names, Heechul and Changmin for the boys, SooNa for a girl. Key had his arm wrapped around her shoulder, much like the moment she was in at the time, and his gazes were loving. She involuntarily shuddered as she came back to reality, cuddling up closer to Key's side.

All was fair in love and war, Minho had said; she just hoped that Nicole was ready for battle.

* * *

Key left early in the morning to prepare for school; Sooyoung woke up to an empty house with breakfast on the counter. A note was left on top, as well as a little drawing of a smiley face; 'My shikshin needs to eat! ~Key' it read. She took the note gingerly in her hands and held it close. It was a letter from Key to her; it suddenly became a prized possession. She propped the note up in her room and finished breakfast quickly before grabbing her things and waiting outside; five minutes later, Minho pulled up to her driveway. She hopped into the backseat, greeting the two men inside.

"Annyeong, Minho Oppa. Annyeong, Donghae Oppa."

They both greeted her back as Minho set off on the road. Sooyoung turned towards Donghae, a College senior and Minho's roommate. "Have you found a nice house yet?"

Donghae smiled at her and shook his head. "Nope. Tiffany decided that we're going to wait until after college to move into a new house."

Donghae was a close childhood friend of Minho's; he grew up with him, and was always Minho's role model. Now in college, they room together. But Donghae has to start focusing on his future; he already proposed to a beautiful half-American girl named Tiffany, and they were going to try and buy an apartment together.

"Oh. Well, if you ever need a place to stay after college, I have like, four guest rooms," Sooyoung offered. Donghae sent her a smile with a thumbs up.

"I'll keep that in mind. Besides, I'm pretty sure Tiffany wouldn't mind some nice girl company," he said with a laugh. Sooyoung grinned as Minho pulled into the parking lot of their school. They saw Tiffany waving like crazy from afar; Donghae turned to wink at her, grabbing his school bag. "Later, Soo!"

Sooyoung waved pleasantly, hopping out of the car with Minho. She watched with a cheerful smile as he ran up to the beautiful goddess that was Hwang Tiffany and gave her a kiss; they certainly made a cute couple.

"Sooyoung, you'd better go. Key and Nicole have been waving at you for a while now; Nicole looks pretty irritated," Minho whispered to her. She whizzed around, sending an apologetic smile to her friends and bidding Minho farewell as she ran over to them.

"Gosh, Sooyoung, learn how to pay attention; we've been standing here for five minutes!" Nicole whined, huffing. Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Key, do you mind if I borrow Nicole for a second?" she asked, her voice changing only slightly as she acted cuter. Key blinked, surprised. He slowly nodded in confusion.

"Sure…" he mumbled, but his two girl friends had already run off, disappearing in the crowd heading off to class. He chuckled under his breath.

Sooyoung dragged Nicole all the way to the roof, quickly making sure they were alone before she turned on her, eyes serious. Nicole huffed and puffed, trying to get her air back.

"Sooyoung, what are you-"

"I like him too."

Nicole looked at her frenemy, eyes narrowed. Sooyoung did _not_ just go there. Not after she had promised to help her get together with him, not after she had told her that it was ok to make a move. She thought she had Sooyoung's support in this.

"I like him too, Nicole. I, Choi Sooyoung, have a crush on our friend, Kim Kibum," Sooyoung repeated. Nicole knew she wasn't lying; her eyes were hard and serious, and her posture was rigid. She glared straight at her with a fierce determination.

"So I guess we're rivals in love then, huh?" Nicole sneered. Sooyoung shook her head.

"I'm not going to compete for Key. I said I'd give you a chance to confess, so I will; I won't bother you when you confess to him, and I won't confess before you either. But Because I have feelings for him too, I can't help you later today."

Nicole's glare faded, being replaced with confusion; Sooyoung just told her that she had a crush on Key, yet at the same time, urged her to confess to him. Wouldn't normal people in that situation start a war of feelings to see who could convey their love first? She couldn't help but smile to herself; of course Sooyoung wouldn't do that. She wasn't exactly what you would call _normal_.

"Alright, Soo. You don't have to help me," She told her frenemy lightly. Sooyoung's fierceness ebbed away into a happy smile.

"Good. That's all I really wanted to say to you. Let's go to class!"

Sooyoung didn't feel as good as she thought she would feel after her confession to Nicole; in fact, she felt a little worse. She wanted very much to interfere with Nicole's confession later, but now that she promised she wouldn't, she couldn't. she mentally slapped herself for speaking the first thought that came to her mind as she pulled Nicole to class, sending her an awkward smile.

* * *

Minho was pretty pleased with his day; he had recently learned that he aced four tests all in different subjects, then found out that his basketball team had a shot of going to the championships, and to top it all off, he was sitting by the soccer field with none other than Lee Yuri.

He didn't know how he ended up next to Yuri, reading books in the afternoon sunlight, but he sure was glad that she came down to watch his practice again; if she didn't, he would have just gone home, and he wouldn't have been enjoying the nice weather or the nice view of her profile in his peripheral vision. She sure was beautiful; dark black locks that shone like silky raven feathers with blonde highlights framing her face, which had light makeup barely touching up her already flawless complexion. She was biting her lip and her eyebrows were furrowed as she read from her book; apparently, judging by her expression, she was at a good part. Minho closed his book and leaned back into the tree they were sitting under; it wasn't like he was really reading the book anyway.

Instead, he looked up to the sky, which was turning an orangey pink with the sunlight. They had been sitting here for nearly an hour in complete silence; was this what Yuri called friendship? Sitting together under a tree, reading? Minho didn't know, but he felt the need to stretch his legs. Sitting down for extended periods of time didn't settle well with him. He set his book aside and stood up, heading down to the soccer field.

The movement attracted Yuri's attention; she looked up from her book in confusion, following Minho with her eyes. "Where are you going?" she called out before she could stop herself. Minho turned to look at her over his shoulder, grinning.

"I'm going to practice some more; want to come?"

Yuri couldn't help it; she scrambled to her feet, throwing her book on top of her bag as she fell into step besides him. Minho picked up a soccer ball, rolling it onto the grass; he stopped it with his foot and looked back at her. She was fidgeting by the track line, reusing to take the next step onto the grass.

"Are you gonna stand there, or do you want to play?" he called out to her. She looked up at him and shook her head.

"I'll watch, thanks," she mumbled, looking for a clean place to sit.

Minho rolled his eyes. "Come on, Yuri. The ball doesn't bite."

"I'm wearing a short skirt!" she shrieked, pulling at the hem. Minho didn't seem to care as he came back towards her, slipping his jacket off.

"Then tie this around your waist," he told her, handing the jacket to her. She took it and did as she was told. "And stop worrying. You're wearing sneakers anyway; just relax and enjoy yourself a little bit!"

Yuri bit her lip; even if she promised herself that she'd trust Minho a little more, sports just wasn't her thing. Well, she decided that without really trying, anyway; she didn't like the concept of getting down and dirty, chasing after a ball, pushing people aside and possibly getting injured. She liked to watch; she didn't like to play.

"Come on, Yuri!" Minho urged, getting impatient. She settled her resolve and stepped onto the field; maybe playing once wouldn't hurt her.

It didn't take long for Yuri to realize that she was very, very, _very_ competitive in Soccer.

She raced Minho for the ball, completely blowing her stupid worry of making her skirt fly up out of her mind. Her target was the soccer ball, innocently rolling along on the grass, and her enemy was Choi Minho; she would never, ever let him steal what she claimed was hers. She raced along the grass, pushing and shoving him aside as she kicked the ball along; but always at the last second, Minho would stretch his long legs out and kick it away from her.

"You have to be faster than that!" he teased. She growled under her breath and quickly gave chase again, groaning as he made a goal. He was just too good for her.

They played for who knows how long together; Minho, fully enjoying himself and leisurely playing at his own pace, and Yuri, hell bent on destroying him by making at least one goal. They ran back and forth, back and forth, until finally, someone coughed on the edge of the grass, gathering their attention.

"Um…don't mean to interrupt or anything, but I'd like to go home soon, Minho," Donghae said sheepishly. Minho checked his watched and flinched; they had been playing for two hours after school. The night class students should be coming in by now. He looked to Yuri, who hung her head in embarrassment at being caught playing sports after hours.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Minho," she whispered hurriedly, bowing politely to Donghae and hurrying to her bag, collecting her things. Minho stared after her and smiled, stepping up to his Hyung.

Donghae threw an arm around his shoulder and grinned. "Who's that, Min? Your girlfriend?"

Minho shook his head. "Nah, that's Lee Yuri. She's a new friend of mine." He picked up his bags and tossed Donghae the keys as they approached the parking lot together.

Yuri on the other hand was distraught. She cursed herself for getting too into the game as she slid into the backseat of Jonghyun's car, bowing her head repeatedly to her irritated older brother. Taemin sat beside her, a little worried.

"Well at least one of you finally decided to show up," Jonghyun grumbled, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Yuri glanced at the empty passengers seat and frowned.

"Where's Key?"

"We don't know. He texted me an hour ago saying that he was running a little late; I looked for him, but I couldn't find him, so Jonghyun Hyung told me to just come back and wait in the car," Taemin told her. She could see the anxiety in his eyes. Yuri rubbed his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"It's ok, Tae-baby. Key's probably trying to sort out a Sooyoung and Nicole mess."

* * *

And sort out he was certainly trying to do. He didn't know how to respond when Nicole took his hand and dragged him away after their last class, leaving Sooyoung in the dust; he could only allow himself to be dragged across campus and into the garden, which was alight with life and the harmonious buzz of bees. He knew Nicole was planning something if she had taken him somewhere without Sooyoung; she was never brave enough to face him alone.

"Nicole, what are you doing?" he asked, sitting down on one of the benches. Nicole turned her back to him, trying to gather up her courage.

"Key, I…I like you, K-Key," she muttered out. Key wanted to groan out loud; he had tried to delay her confession for as long as possible, but he knew it would come eventually. He just hoped he could play his cards right and keep Nicole around as his friend; she was pretty entertaining, after all.

"Nicole, I'm happy that you built up the courage to tell me this. But I'm just not looking for a relationship right now," he said gently. Nicole heaved a sigh and faced him again with a smile.

"Oh! Well, I'm sorry for burdening you with this, then," she said sadly. She turned to leave when Key caught her arm.

"Don't get me wrong, Nicole. I like you too, just…not in that sense. I still want you to be my friend; is that ok?" he asked her, slowly and calmly to keep her from breaking down. Key was, after all, a professional at rejection. He had turned down nearly half of his female classmates and not a single girl cried after it. He just hoped that he could coax Nicole in exactly the same way.

But Nicole was looking down at her feet, tears already visible in her eyes; Key immediately started to panic. He hated seeing girls in distress. He raised his hands over his head and quickly tried to think of ways to calm her down; but he froze almost instantly.

"It's Sooyoung, isn't it? She confessed first."

He looked at the crying girl again, dumbstruck. What did Sooyoung have to do with this? "Sooyoung? I haven't talked to her since lunch."

"Don't lie!" Nicole screamed slapping his hand off of her shoulder. He raised his arms above his head in surrender, baffled by her actions; Nicole never lashed out on anyone. He didn't know how to handle this kind of situation; for once, he was in a stump.

"She confessed first, I know it! Why else would you turn me down and still ask me to be your friend? You don't want me to find out that you accepted her!" she shrieked, rubbing her mascara stained eyes. Key took two large steps back just in case she lashed out at him again.

"Sooyoung never confessed to me! She doesn't even like me like that, Nicole!" he told her firmly, still a gentle tone in his voice.

"Liar! You're such a dirty Liar, Kibum!" Nicole screamed. She came at him again, ready to slap him hard in the face; Key closed his eyes and grit his teeth, waited for impact.

SLAP!

Key opened his eyes at the sound; he didn't feel any pain or pressure on his cheek, but the slap had made such an echoing, resonating noise that the birds in the garden had flown away at the sudden disturbance. His eyes widened when instead of Nicole, he found the figure of a girl in front of him, her hair covering her face.

But he could recognize those chestnut brown locks anywhere.

Sooyoung turned her head back around to Nicole, her eyes fierce and hard. Her cheek was quickly turning red from the impact, and it was even swelling up a bit; she paid no mind as she glared down at Nicole.

"Key's not lying, Nicole. I didn't say anything to him. I promised you I'd give you this chance, and I never go back on my promises," she murmured, her voice deadly calm. She clenched her fists to her side in anger. Nicole stared at her with wide, shocked eyes before they welled up with tears and she turned on her heel, dashing away. Silence enveloped the two remaining in the garden as they listened to Nicole's clattering footsteps fade away.

Key reached a hand out and placed it on his best friend's shoulder; she was shaking, her body racking with quiet sobs she fought hard to control. Now that Nicole had left, she released all of her pent up sadness, all her anger into her tears, letting them fall like rivers. She sniveled pathetically and hung her head low, her fists shaking at her side as Key rubbed soothing circles into her shoulder.

"I've known her my whole life, Key," she barely managed to choke out. "And I still don't know who she really is."

Key pulled her into a hug and gently told her that everything was going to be alright; but Sooyoung knew better. She had just lost one of her childhood friendships; and even if she thought she hated Nicole's company, now that she was gone, Sooyoung already missed her. She had just cut the very thin strand of friendship that held them together by standing up for Key, and they both knew it; starting tomorrow, they were going to be strangers to each other.

Key sighed and called Jonghyun. "Hey, Jjong?" he held his phone away from his ear for a while as his older brother shouted dirty profanity at him in his irritation. When the line went silent, he placed the device back to his ear. "Yeah, sorry. Do you think we have room for one more person in the car?"

Jonghyun paused on the other line before he answered with an unsure yes. Key thanked his older brother before calling Minho. "Hey, Minho? I'm going to take Sooyoung home. Ok?" Minho gave him a good yes as well and soon, Key was leading the broken girl to the parking lot.

Yuri moved herself to the front seat so Key could sit next to Sooyoung in the back; it was silent in the car as Jonghyun drove, slower than normal, back to their beachside mansion. Key's siblings wordlessly exited and wandered off into their own rooms, offering them privacy; Key was thankful.

"Sooyoung, we're going to have a nice movie night, ok? Then we can head up to my room and build those forts you love so much. Oh, and I'll even let you sneak the ice cream carton up to my room, but just this once, ok?" he cooed. Sooyoung couldn't help but smile.

She couldn't say she regretted stepping in between Key and Nicole in the gardens; if she had to choose, Sooyoung would have certainly preferred Key's company. And even if she felt a little emptier inside knowing that she'd never hear Nicole's nagging, nit-picky, high-pitched complaining voice again, she felt that she could move on, just as long as Key stayed by her side. Besides, a part of her was overjoyed that there were no more obstacles standing between her and Key's heart.

_Looks like I won, Nicole_, she thought dryly as Key cuddled up to her on the couch, throwing an arm over her shoulder. She couldn't fight her victorious smile as she leaned into him, her head fitting perfectly on his collar bone.


	9. Message in a bottle

Chapter 9 message in a bottle

Jessica's morning was starting out great; she came to school bright and early to get some extra tutoring lessons from the teacher, and because she did, she managed to pass her exam with a high B. She even managed to get out of doing homework for the next three days because of her amazing accomplishment. After her amazing test results, she went to English; the professor gave her highest marks as well as a lot of praise. So for her, her morning was starting off pretty amazing.

Until Jonghyun came into the picture.

While Jessica's day was all sunshine and rainbows, Jonghyun wanted to shoot himself with something he knew would blow his brains out the side of his head. For four days Sooyoung had been curled up in Key's room, wallowing in misery and wailing about her lost friendship with Nicole. Key could do nothing to appease the girl and could only let her cry on his shoulder; after the first night, he knew that anything he said would only make matters worse. She would cry all through the night, which would always interrupt Jonghyun's beauty sleep; and he desperately needed his beauty sleep.

He stomped through the halls, and for the first time in his life, his mouth remained closed and he didn't sing to the crowd of girls waiting for him; Jessica was pretty amazed. It must have been an amazingly hard feat for him to accomplish.

He stopped in front of her just before she went into her next class; without saying anything, he took her hand and dragged her away.

"Jonghyun, what are you-"

"Jessica, please don't listen to anything I tell you for the next five minutes. I'm going to have a mental breakdown," he told her carefully, staring into her eyes. Jessica gulped at his proximity and took a step back before nodding.

Jonghyun's statement about having a mental breakdown proved legit; as the crowd began to thin out, he poured every irritated emotion into his words as he spat out curses and nonsensical phrases all pointing to Sooyoung and Nicole. Jessica could only stand there, still trapped in his intense gaze even if he wasn't looking at her anymore, and nod. She was baffled that Jonghyun had such a side. His anger seemed to roll off of him in waves as he continued his rant.

"So now because stupid Nicole is such a stupid person, Sooyoung has been camping out at our house in Key's room – which I will point out, is right next to mine – and she's been crying at night, and I haven't slept properly for four days. _Four days!_ I'm almost ready to go find Nicole and punch her in the face. If she just accepts Sooyoung back as her friend, then none of this would be happening. But no, Sooyoung went to her on Tuesday and tried to reconcile, but the woman ignored her and blew her off…"

Jessica's shock soon turned to amusement as he continued; he was angry at something like this? It was pretty comical listening to him complain about a broken friendship that didn't concern him in the slightest. Shouldn't it have been Key complaining? Poor Key probably hasn't had a wink of sleep if Sooyoung was crying in his room all night.

"I need my beauty sleep, Jessica. Sleep is important to me, and now my sleeping schedule is all messed up because of her. I love Sooyoung as a sister and all, but she needs to get the hell out of my house and let me sleep," he finally finished, breathing heavily. He barely took a single breath within the entire rant. Feeling noticeable better after getting everything off of his chest, he turned to Jessica with a bright smile; she was covering her mouth with her hand, trying to hold her laughter in. He frowned.

"You need beauty rest? You sound like such a princess!" she joked, laughing. Jonghyun pouted, folding his arms across his chest and huffing.

"Well _excuse me_," he growled, turning away from her. Jessica laughed again and patted his back.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," she muttered, trying to pause her giggles to no avail.

Jonghyun pouted. "Gah, I shouldn't have vented to you. I should have gone to Yuri; at least _she's_ understanding."

"Ok, ok! I'm sorry, alright? Big, strong, muscular Jonghyun isn't a pretty little princess who needs his beauty sleep."

Jonghyun turned on his heel and groaned. "You're unbelievable."

Jessica giggled again. Teasing him was just too easy. "Hey, remember who it was that came to me with the whole friendship deal. The snarky remarks and witty comments come with the package."

Jonghyun rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I've figured that much out already. Anyway, I'm going to cut school and head to the beach; do you want to come with?"

Jessica raised her eyebrow, her giggles coming up short. "I need to study, Jonghyun. Why don't you take Yuri?"

"Yuri? Cut class? The day she cuts class will be the day the world ends," Jonghyun said. "Besides, I can teach you everything you're going to miss and more later; I might not look it, but I'm a straight A student with a photographic memory."

Jessica rolled her eyes, not believing him. Jonghyun having straight As? He never paid attention in class. Jonghyun trying to learn was like a fish learning how to breath out of water. Impossible. "Yeah. Whatever, Jjong. I need to go."

"…to the beach," he urged, taking her hand before she could slip away. She blushed at the contact.

"Jonghyun –"

"I promise you I'll help you later; just please come to the beach with me?" he begged, pulling a puppy-dog pout at her. Jessica turned away from him, trying the impossible and attempting to get her hand out of his grasp; but his hold was tight. Finally with a sigh, she faced his adorable expression and nodded; there just wasn't a way to get out of this one.

"Alright, but just this once, and you'd better –eep!" She couldn't finish her sentence as Jonghyun grinned broadly at her and broke out in a run, dragging her along, tripping as her toes caught on the floor. He didn't rest until they were safely out in the parking lot; he led her to his car and opened her door for her like a true gentleman.

Jessica would have thought the gesture was sweet if he hadn't pulled her so hard. She glared at him and stuck her tongue out before climbing in.

"Next stop, home!" Jonghyun cheered as he slipped into the driver's seat, buckling up. He made extra sure to drive just under the speed limit – unlike his usual crazy speeding – to make sure that Jessica wouldn't flip out and assume he was trying to kill her. They made it down the hill and into Jonghyun's garage in twenty minutes; usually, it took Jonghyun five, but he didn't really care.

Jessica was in awe at the house; it was magnificent. Standing tall on the very edge of the beach with high, ceiling length windows, a veranda, a patio and deck with outdoor couches and a table, and ivory lacing the walls, it was like a true work of art. Jonghyun chuckled at her amazed look and opened her door for her, letting her step out. She ran like a little school girl towards the beach, turning on the sand and looking back; she could see every room perfectly clear through the many floor to ceiling length windows.

"Is that your mother?" she asked as Jonghyun casually walked up to her. He looked to where she was pointing, up to the second floor, where Taeyeon was reading peacefully in an armchair. Jonghyun nodded. Jessica couldn't help but think that Jonghyun had inherited most of his mother's traits; his mother was gorgeous, with long, silky smooth chestnut brown hair that shone in the reflecting sunlight. Her stature seemed short, but her legs were long and creamy, matching the perfection that was her pale skin. She also carried a certain elegance; even though she was only reading a book, her movements were graceful.

"Yeah, that's my Umma. And that's my Appa," Jonghyun told her, moving her finger to the first floor dining room, where Onew was cooking up lunch. Compared to his wife, Jonghyun's father seemed somewhat ordinary. He still had dashing good looks, and a beautiful, gentle voice; he was singing to himself while cooking, and the notes traveled out the open window and to her ears. He just didn't shine as brightly as Jonghyun's Umma did; but he had the same, graceful elegance.

"Your Appa is really good at singing," Jessica complimented. Jonghyun chuckled as his father sung a few more lines to himself, smiling. His father was good at singing, he knew; his voice just wasn't hypnotic and enticing like a Siren's.

"You should listen to my Umma sing," Jonghyun joked. Of course, Jessica didn't understand the hidden meaning behind his words; she only assumed that she was as good at singing as her husband.

"Anyway, that's Key and the devil's spawn," Jonghyun continued, pointing back to the second floor, to a room on the right. She could see Key moving around frantically, throwing things like pillows and blankets; he unearthed a gallon tub of ice cream from under his bed and quickly disappeared from sight, only to reappear moments later coaxing a very sad looking Sooyoung over to his bed. She was wrapped up in a quilt and had a spoon in her hand; as soon as Key removed the lid to the ice cream, she dug up a huge bite. Jessica giggled. The action seemed to gather Key's attention.

Key looked over at them and sent an exasperated look to Jonghyun as he collapsed by the window, reaching out to him. 'Help me!' he mouthed desperately. Jonghyun shook his head and pointed to the fabric ball that was Sooyoung and mouthed back 'Your problem' before waving to his brother; Key looked ready to start crying.

"Anyway, the beach awaits!" Jonghyun announced to Jessica, stepping out into the sand.

Jessica fell into step besides him, abandoning her sneakers and socks on his front patio so they wouldn't be stolen. As she pushed her toes into the sand, she gave a hearty sigh; the feeling was magical. Jonghyun continued on in front of her, completely used to the feeling. She decided to linger a bit and enjoy herself. Jessica closed her eyes and smiled, feeling the gentle sea breeze wrap around her like a warm blanket under the baking sun. the air smelled of the sea; salty, but sweet to her senses. She took a deep breath, as if inhaling perfume. Why couldn't it smell this good everywhere?

"Jessica! Come on!" Jonghyun urged. She opened her eyes to find him several feet away, tapping his foot in the sand. She smiled sheepishly and stumbled after him.

"Do you want to go towards the water?" she asked him, eyeing the gently lapping waves gleefully. Today could probably be described as a surfer's nightmare; the ocean was calm, and the waves were softly paddling the shore. It was perfect in Jessica's eyes. The gentleness appealed to her.

Jonghyun flinched, suddenly looking down at his toes. "Yeah…no thanks. I have a fear of water," he mumbled pathetically. Naturally, Jessica couldn't know about him sprouting fins at even the smallest drop of water.

Jessica gave him a strange look. "You're afraid of water…But you live by the beach. How does that make sense?" she questioned. Jonghyun shrugged.

"My whole family has this phobia of water; but my Umma just loves looking at the ocean. She also said something about trying to cure our fear by living out here. You know, take it step by step. I couldn't even be this close to the waves before," he lied. The lie slipped out of his mouth so easily; he had told it time and time again. Jessica looked sympathetic and looked towards the ocean, which was at least ten feet away from where they were standing.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Jonghyun chuckled and threw an arm around her shoulder; he grinned when a blush stained her cheeks. "Don't be. It's our problem, and we're handling it."

Jessica offered a smile over her blush and pulled out of his grasp, secretly slapping her cheeks in an attempt to get them back to normal color. She turned to face him when she was sure she was pale again.

"So where do you want to go? You know the beach better than I do, I'll bet," she offered. Jonghyun smiled.

"Of course I know the beach better than you. I've lived here for years," he told her, like the information wasn't already obvious. Jessica rolled her eyes.

Jonghyun took her hand and pulled her along, pointing out things as they passed; the rock wall that seemed impassable but had a secret entrance, the forest of tall green leaves leading up the hill to a haunted lighthouse, the tide-pools that teemed with life; everything seemed to fascinate Jessica. She questioned everything; how the rock wall had got there and who had discovered the small hole that was now blocked by a palm tree, the story behind the lighthouse's ghost, and even how the tide worked. She seemed especially interested in all the bright and colorful starfish in the little pools in the cavernous rock mountain.

Jonghyun stood safely on a high rock, away from the water as Jessica bent down, swishing her hand through the pools and poking a sea anemone. She plucked a bright pink starfish from the rock and turned it over, examining it in amazement.

Jonghyun sat down on the rock, making sure his feet didn't hang over the water by keeping them close to his chest. "You act like you've never seen starfish before." He mumbled as she brushed her hand along the thousands of little feelers.

"I haven't," Jessica admitted. Jonghyun cocked his head to the side in shock. "I know that we aren't that far away from the beach, but I've never actually came to one. I've always lived close, but I've never gone; I've been missing out on a lot."

Jonghyun frowned. "Well, then you need the proper experience, don't you? Maybe someday Sooyoung can take you swimming in the ocean. From what I've heard, it's really cool."

Jessica timidly returned the starfish to its watery home and turned away from Jonghyun to hide her blush. "Maybe _you_ can take me swimming one day."

Jonghyun raised an eyebrow and grinned; he liked the sound of that, even if he knew that it would never happen. "Maybe. Come on, we should head to the pier; it's not much, but it's pretty cool."

Jessica nodded, wiping her hands on her sweater to make sure they were completely dry before approaching Jonghyun. While she stepped over the remainder of the pools in astonishment, Jonghyun hopped around in the higher rocks, effectively avoiding the water; Jessica couldn't help but think it was pretty comical, and that he looked like a mountain goat.

When the tide pools were far enough behind them, Jonghyun jumped onto the rocks besides her and took her hand, leading her over the formation; he helped her steady herself as they jumped down onto the other side, like a true gentleman. Jessica could see a long wooden structure leading far out into the ocean; it had to be the pier.

Tourists lined this side of the beach, as it was public; unlike Jonghyun's private beach, which was only open to select people. Small children in brightly colored bathing suits chased after each other in the sand, and some were building sand castles. Adults and a few teenagers were laying on their backs on towels, tanning. A man and his dog were present as well; she watched in awe as the man threw a tennis ball far out into the water only for the dog to swim out and retrieve it. Jessica looked to the ocean; the surfers were in the water, though they were a little disheartened by the lack of waves. She smiled at the happiness that surrounded her.

Jonghyun pulled her through the throng of vacationers, bowing politely to adults as he passed; Jessica could only be dragged along like a rag doll while trying hopelessly to enjoy the scenery while it lasted. Before long, they were walking on the baking gravel parking lot; they ran to the pier as their feet burned.

"This is amazing!" Jessica cheered. Jonghyun laughed at her brightly smiling face and started walking along, staring at the edge of the wooden structure; if she was enjoying herself that much, he might as well give her a treat and call a dolphin or something. After all, the ocean life respected Sirens, half or not; if he made the call, they would appear. A smile formed on his face as the image of Jessica's happy face filled his mind. His pace quickened as he pulled her along.

Jessica was still marveling at everything; the fishermen who sat in their chairs, sleeping while waiting for a bite. The couples holding hands, making wishes and tossing coins into the murky waters. Even the small children on their little bikes, zooming back and forth across the wooden planks, screaming in glee. Why had her father never taken her to the beach? She didn't even go to one back in California; she was almost certain that she was missing out on a lot now, as she breathed in more salty sea air. They were at the end of the pier – which was expanded into a large circular shape to accommodate large amounts of people as opposed to the small walkway they had come from – when she leaned against the rails, staring out into the vast expanse of water. It never seemed to end; it kept going until the clouds touched the ocean's glittering surface.

Jonghyun grinned, leaning on the railing next to her. "Want to see a trick? My Umma showed it to me when I was six."

Jessica nodded, already getting excited; Jonghyun chuckled as he released a long, high whistle. Jessica stumbled a bit at the sound of his voice, but quickly regained her composure; she promised herself that she wouldn't let his voice affect her like all the other girls. Speaking of other girls, a few turned to him at the noise and smiled seductively; in response – for reasons unknown to her – she cuddled closer into his side, taking claimage.

She stared at him, expecting something more; but he only smiled and stared out at the water, seemingly satisfied. She frowned. "That's it? That's your trick? Whistling?"

Jonghyun chuckled at her impatience. "Wait for it."

Jessica turned to the ocean, the pout still clear on her face. She searched the waters, looking for something that she supposed would come out; Jonghyun began to count down in his mind. Three, two, one…

A sparkling dolphin leapt out of the water, performing a backflip right in front of her; Jessica screamed in shock, stepping back. Jonghyun helped her keep steady before she leaned her whole upper body over the rails, staring after the creature. A few tourists ran to the rails as well, crowding around besides them.

Jonghyun whistled again; the dolphin popped it's head up in the water and looked up at him, clapping his flippers and releasing a cheerful laugh as it propelled itself through the waves. He only smiled at his old friend; Dolphins were like Siren's pets, after all, and this one had taken a liking to Jonghyun a few months back. The crowd was in complete shock, pulling out cameras and talking in excitement to each other; even Jessica was too preoccupied to notice him. He leaned over the rail slightly, winking to the creature.

"Hey, Roo," he whispered. The dolphin had heard him, however; it plunged back into the water only to appear seconds later, flipping through the air again. Jonghyun ducked as a few stray water droplets flew towards them.

"Oh my god! This is amazing! How did you do that?" Jessica asked in excitement, taking his collar and shaking him slightly. Jonghyun pulled her hands away and smiled.

"You know how dolphins communicate with that clicking sound? Well it's a really high-pitched noise. If you try to mimic it, they come. It doesn't always work, though," he lied quickly. Jessica beamed and turned back to the dolphin – Roo – splashing about in the water.

"Do you think I could try?" she asked, biting her lip. Roo clapped his hands and nodded, as if asking her to try. She turned to Jonghyun for a second before mimicking him, whistling a long, sweet note.

Jonghyun was caught momentarily off guard; her voice was crisp and smooth, like petals on a rose. She had that perfect tone of innocence and beauty that mixed in a perfect harmony. For a second, Jonghyun was transfixed, frozen in place as he stared at Jessica; she seemed to emanate a magical glow as the sun played with her light brown locks, bouncing off her glasses. She looked radiant; gorgeous.

He snapped out of it when Roo leapt into the air a third time, higher than before; he performed a double back flip in the air and landed with a loud splash. Baffled, he looked over the edge as his pet resurfaced. Did Roo just answer to Jessica's call?

"Oh my god, I did it!" she squealed happily. Jonghyun couldn't be bothered with her joy; he looked down at the dolphin, who stared right back. After a while of treading water, Roo winked; Jonghyun chuckled in response, understanding the action. The dolphin let out another last long squeal before vanishing below the surface, returning to the Siren city in the coral reefs below, back to Auntie Sunny who was supposed to be taking care of him while he was away.

_That Roo. he's such a tease_, Jonghyun thought to himself. Of course his pet would have the same mindset as his own; everything Roo did, it was to impress the ladies. He would have flipped for Jessica whether she whistled or not.

He pulled away from the railing and rolled his eyes; he'd have a firm talk with the creature later, when he could go out to swim. He barely managed to turn around when Jessica tackled him, nearly sending them both over the railing. A blush actually crept onto his cheeks as he patted her back awkwardly.

"Thank you so much, Jonghyun! That was amazing!" she cheered, releasing him from the hug and peering back over the ledge. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she stared down at the water where Roo once was; Jonghyun slapped the blush out of his cheeks and took her hand, hoping to lead her away.

"You're welcome. Maybe next time, more will come out," he told her. He made a mental note to tell Roo to always answer to Jessica's call from that moment on. Hell, he'd probably tell some sea lions and Otters to answer to it too; the look of joy on Jessica's face seemed to imprint itself in Jonghyun's mind. He wanted her to smile like that all the time. It made her look pretty. No, pretty was an understatement; it made her look gorgeous. "We should get some lunch. Then we can head back to my beach."

Jessica nodded and gave one last long look at the water before following after him, a new spring in her step. Jonghyun chuckled. He led her back across the pier and back towards civilization, running through the parking lot to enter a small beachside village with little shops and restaurants. Jessica stopped at each window, peering in with amazement. Finally, Jonghyun pulled her towards a remarkably fancy looking seafood venue; she took a look at the menu displayed by the front doors and gasped.

"Jonghyun, I can't afford this!" she whispered, sending a smile to the host at the podium. He gave her a forced smile back.

Jonghyun ruffled her hair. "But_I_ can. Come on, it's my treat; I'm the one who forced you to come out here with me anyway," he said, taking her hand in a vice lock so she couldn't escape. She looked tortured as he pulled her to the podium, flashing a brilliant smile.

"Table for two," he told the host. The man looked bored as he grabbed two menus and wordlessly led them to a table secluded in a corner; as they were sitting down, he eyed their bare sandy feet in disgust.

"I'm sorry sir, no shoes, no –" he tried to say, but Jonghyun waved at him.

"Sir, I'm Kim Jonghyun. Taeyeon's son. You know, the really pretty lady living on the other side of the tide pools? The person who supplies you with all the fish you cook here? You wouldn't want me to complain, now would you?" he coaxed with a sweet smile. The host frowned and bowed apologetically.

"My apologies. A server will be with you momentarily," he mumbled in embarrassment before quickly disappearing.

Jessica looked at Jonghyun in awe. "How did you just do that? I was so sure he would kick us out."

"It's all in the people you know. My Umma basically built this place from scratch; the owner, a guy I know as Leeteuk, is her best friend. They apparently go way back," Jonghyun supplied. Going way back was an understatement, really; Leeteuk was Eunhyuk's older brother, who followed Taeyeon above to land via Queen Boa's orders so he could watch over her. He was pretty serious about his job at first, but apparently got bored. Besides, He actually liked land, so with Taeyeon's help, he opened a restaurant; Taeyeon and Leeteuk went fishing every once in a while and brought back big hauls, effectively making the restaurant the best on the block. Jonghyun had met the man a few times, and they had gone fishing together in the past.

Jessica was in shock. Her mouth hung open a little. "That's so cool."

Jonghyun chuckled at her expression as a waiter came forward, a pen and notepad ready in his hands. Jonghyun quickly scanned the menu. He noticed Jessica eyeing the smoothies, but when she realized that he was staring at her, she quickly turned away.

"What can I get for you?" the waiter asked nicely. Jonghyun asked for a coke while Jessica simply ordered water; Jonghyun protested, and in the end, she ended up with a very expensive smoothie filled with exotic fruits and berries. She glared at him.

"I'm trying to save you some money. You don't have to spend it all on me," she hissed.

"Yeah, but like I said, it's my treat. Don't act like you didn't want one, I know you're secretly happy," he shot right back. Jessica sat back in her seat, pouting.

The waiter smiled at their little banter as he stuffed his notepad back into his pocket. "You two make a cute couple," he commented.

Jessica instantly blushed and turned her face down, letting her hair fan out to cover her red cheeks. Jonghyun rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and suddenly became interested in the waiter's shoe laces. "We're not a couple," he coughed.

The waiter smiled brightly at the news and turned to Jessica, bowing politely. "I'm very sorry for making that mistake. I'll be right back with your orders, ok?"

Jonghyun's awkward tension quickly turned into annoyance. The waiter's tone; he knew it well. That stupid waiter was _flirting_ with Jessica. Using a sugar coated, honey sweet voice mixed with kind words to appeal to her better nature. He even bowed to _her_ – not both of them, only her – for making the mistake. Clearly the waiter thought he had a chance with Jessica since she wasn't dating him.

Jessica smiled at the waiter and turned back forwards, still a little flustered; she stared at her hands as the waiter left and Jonghyun glared after him. Did they really look like a couple? Sure, Jonghyun held her hand a lot, but that was mostly because he was dragging her around. Sure, they smiled and laughed with each other, teased and mocked each other, and looked happy together. But wasn't that how friends usually acted? Because Jessica had already settled her resolve. Jonghyun was a friend; nothing more. If she ever crossed that line between friend-zone and relationship, she knew there was no going back. A relationship with Jonghyun seemed like one that would haunt her forever if it went wrong. She shivered at the thought.

"What do you want to eat?" Jonghyun grumbled, a slight edge in his voice. She opened up her menu and quickly began scanning the pages, taking short looks at her partner. He had an irritated look and was gazing out deeper in the restaurant, his eyes trained on something. She tried to look at what he was staring at, but couldn't see anything that looked suspicious; shrugging, she turned her attention back to the menu.

"What do you recommend?" she asked him, looking at all the pictures; everything looked delicious.

Jonghyun snapped out of his revere and smiled at her. He picked up his menu and quickly scanned it. "French brown crab fried with fermented soya beans and thick chilli sauce is really good."

Jessica looked at the price of the crab and her stomach dropped; it was way out of her league. "I think something less expensive will suffice."

Jonghyun dropped his menu and gave her a dead look; she held her hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok fine! I'll just go with that, then. But remember, you were the one forcing me."

Jonghyun smiled pleasantly, looking victorious just as the waiter returned with their drinks. His smile instantly dropped as he glared at the man; he had abandoned his glasses and combed his hair back. It irritated Jonghyun to no end as he bent in front of Jessica, pulling his notepad out.

"What can I get you, mademoiselle?" he asked, trying to get a deep, sexy feel into his voice. Jessica sipped her smoothie before glancing back at the menu; she offered the waiter a pleasant smile. Jonghyun's hands tightened.

_Bitch, please. French? That is so eighteen hundreds. I would know, I lived through that shit_, he thought venomously. Before Jessica could answer the waiter, he commanded his attention.

"We're having number eleven. Two plates of dead crab with tasty sauces," he growled. The waiter gave him a slightly irritated look but backed down at Jonghyun's glare; he was menacing. He quickly wrote down the order and stood up, bowing. He gave a fearful glance to Jonghyun – who smiled victoriously – before rushing off.

Jessica was staring out the window, completely lost in her own world. When Jonghyun took control of the order, she only heaved a sigh of relief; she couldn't repeat what he had said to her because she couldn't read the Korean in the menu. She was thankful for Jonghyun for that.

"How's your drink?" he asked her, taking a sip of his coke. Jessica smiled and twirled the straw between her fingers.

"It's amazing. Like a fruit explosion in your mouth," she told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"See? I told you that you were secretly happy. Can I have a sip?" he asked casually. Jessica nodded and handed him the cup; he took a long sip, judging the taste.

"It's tangy. I like it," he mumbled in praise. Jessica smiled and pulled the glass back, ready to take another sip.

She stopped short just above her glass; Jonghyun had just taken a drink from the same straw. If she drank from it, wouldn't she be indirectly kissing him? But wait, he had taken a sip from the straw after she did; so did that mean she had already indirectly kissed him? Or did it mean that he indirectly kissed her? She suddenly became very distraught as she battled herself internally, staring at the straw in question. Jonghyun raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

Jessica looked up at him and smiled, trying to push her thoughts aside. She quickly took a sip of her drink to throw him off. He chuckled.

"You're certainly something else, Jessica. I bet you didn't even notice that the waiter was totally hitting on you," he teased. Jessica frowned.

"He was hitting on me?" she asked. Jonghyun rolled his eyes.

"I rest my case."

"Wait, was the waiter even cute? If he was hitting on me and he was hot, then I totally missed out!" she cried resentfully. Jonghyun's smile fell and his face darkened.

"No, he was a complete nerd. You're way too far out of his league. It wouldn't have worked out," he grumbled.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. Was Jonghyun getting jealous? "You know you totally sounded gay right then."

Jonghyun looked appalled. "I can't believe you just said that."

"It's true," she mumbled, biting her lip in an attempt to fight her smile. He turned away from her with a pout.

"You are the first person to ever accuse me of being gay. Except maybe the people from America on Call of Duty," he joked. Jessica nearly choked on her drink.

"Can I ask you who exactly you play against from America?" she asked skeptically. Jonghyun rose an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Some person named Shining Crystal or something like that."

Jessica couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. Jonghyun gave her a strange look as she fell over in the booth, hitting the seat as she giggled. "Jonghyun…Shining Crystal is always my little sister's user name."

Jonghyun's jaw dropped open. No way. No way in hell. "You're little sister is the one who always shoots me right before I can make a kill?"

"Krystal is scary when she wants to be. She's been raised off of video games. I'll bet one of her friends got her into Call Of Duty."

Jonghyun suddenly felt intensely competitive; he quickly texted Taemin of the battle of the century that was to occur later. _Tae, Jessica's little sister is ShiningCrystal. We have something against her now._

Taemin quickly returned the text. _Tonight after school?_

Jonghyun replied a quick yes and rubbed his hands together diabolically. Jessica rolled her eyes.

Their food arrived soon after (Jonghyun made sure to make the waiter feel as uncomfortable as possible) and both of them fell into silence as they marveled at the meal. A full giant crab was sitting on a large circular plate, it's legs bent inward. Surrounding the massive creature was an assortment of five different sauces; to top it off, a basket of bread was placed in the center of the table. Jessica was in complete awe; she'd never seen anything so fancy, let alone eat it. She suddenly felt like she couldn't destroy such a fine piece of art; she sat back and frowned at the crab while Jonghyun dug in.

"What's wrong? It's delicious," Jonghyun coaxed. Jessica bit her lip and grabbed a leg; as she bit into the meat, she felt like dancing in a fit of joy. It was marvelous.

The crabs didn't last long; both Jessica and Jonghyun had their full in almost no time, patting their bellies and moaning in pain. Jessica had never felt better; she had skipped school, gone to the beach for the first time, saw a dolphin, and ate a supremely expensive meal. She suddenly decided that if she died right then and there, she would have died happy. Extremely happy, in fact. She let out a soft sigh of happiness.

Jonghyun – having normally eaten this type of meal – just called the waiter over by raising his hand. The man ran to the table, gulping nervously.

"Can you get the owner? I'd like a word with him," he asked coldly. The waiter nodded, turning brightly pale before turning on his heel and sprinting away. Jessica giggled.

"You're right, I am way out of his league," she joked. Jonghyun rolled his eyes.

The waiter returned not moments later with a very worried looking young man; he couldn't have been older than twenty-five. As soon as the other man noticed Jonghyun, he heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the waiter, jogging up to the table.

"Jonghyun!" he called, holding his hand out for a man-hug. Jonghyun happily gave him one.

"Hey, Leeteuk Hyung," he greeted. Leeteuk turned to Jessica and smiled brightly, holding his hand out.

Jessica was shot once again; what was with Jonghyun and his entire assortment of family and friends? Everyone he knew was drop-dead gorgeous. She blushed under Leeteuk's intense gaze, his hazel eyes dancing in the dim lighting. His hair was neat and combed, and his waiter's outfit was trimmed exceptionally well. His smile seemed to glow, and even his voice – god, his voice, just like everyone in Jonghyun's family – was soft and sweet.

"Annyeong, Miss. You must be Jonghyun's current girlfriend. My name is Leeteuk," he greeted a bit cockily. Jonghyun elbowed him harshly in the ribs as Jessica shook his hand.

"Oh, no. I'm just a friend. Please, call me Jessica, Leeteuk Oppa," she returned his smile and quickly scooted away. The light Jonghyun and Leeteuk seemed to radiate was beginning to blind her.

"Anyway, what brings you here? It's not every day you come to the public side of the beach," he started. Jonghyun shrugged.

"I'm just showing Jessica around. She's never been to the beach before, and I forced her to cut school with me."

Leeteuk wagged a finger in Jonghyun's face, trying and failing to look stern. "Jonghyun, I am appalled. You're giving up your education for fancy crab meat?"

Jonghyun grinned. "You know it."

Jessica had to smile; the two had a sort of camaraderie that she couldn't really describe. Even though Jonghyun said that Leeteuk was just an old family friend, he seemed like something more. Jessica couldn't put her finger on it, but they seemed almost like…brothers. She pushed the thought aside when Leeteuk turned to her, offering another breathtaking smile.

"Well, I shouldn't bother you on your date," Jonghyun and Jessica both blushed. "So go on, go. The meal's on me."

Now Jessica knew why Jonghyun had ordered really expensive foods; he was getting it all for free anyway. "Alright. Bye, Leeteuk Hyung!"

"See you, Jjong. Tell Taeyeon I said hi!"

Jonghyun quickly pulled Jessica out of the restaurant; she gave him a strange look. In return, he grinned sheepishly. "What? I told you I knew the owner."

She rolled her eyes as they stepped back out into the little village. She'd let it slide…for now. It wasn't every day you got to eat a high-class meal and get away without paying.

Jonghyun took her hand again and pulled her back to the beach, walking past the pier and continuing on through the throng of beach goers. He took his time on the way back so Jessica could properly look around; she stared out at the water, watching the little kids tumble in the light waves in awe. She really wanted to dip her ankles in the cool liquid; but for Jonghyun's sake, she held the urge back. She would only feel bad if she did something like that. They made their way back over the ledge to the tide pools; and for the first time, Jessica noticed the sign.

"Did you make this?" she asked, pointing to it. A tall wide post was bolted into the rock wall. 'DO NOT ENTER. PRIVATE' were written on it in big block letters. Jonghyun chuckled.

"Yeah, my Appa made it back when we were kids. We had an incident when we were little where some pervert tried to kidnap Taemin. He almost got away with it too, because our beach used to be public; it scared the life out of our Umma so she made a sign." Jonghyun said. It wasn't a lie; when Taemin was first born, still only a small Siren boy, a crazy lady tried to take him out into the water, almost exposing their secret. Since Taemin couldn't speak at the time, he had silently screamed for help. If the shark that answered his call hadn't appeared when it did, they would have been exposed. Ever since that day, Taeyeon strictly forbid tourists onto their land; only locals could come, and there was a strict curfew.

Jessica frowned. She felt freakishly sorry for Taemin; there seemed to be so much trauma surrounding his life. "Is that why he can't speak?"

Jonghyun had to lie there; he nodded. "He wasn't much of a talker before, and the kidnapping just shut his voice off for good."

"I feel so sorry for him. Getting kidnapped, becoming mute, being attacked by Yoona and Sulli everyday.."

Jonghyun chuckled at her concern. "Oh trust me, he secretly likes Yoona and Sulli. Why else would he still be putting up with them?"

"That's true," Jessica mumbled as they climbed over the last rocks onto the empty beach on the other side. The peacefulness was nice compared to the rowdy noise of the public beach.

They stepped out onto the sand, staring out at the water. Jonghyun took a few steps back. "Go ahead. I'll watch. I know you want to get closer to the water."

Jessica opened her mouth to protest. Jonghyun silenced her with a look. "It's ok, Jessica. I'll follow you from up here."

Jessica nodded; she knew that fighting with him would lead nowhere. Instead of protesting more, she just walked closer to the waves; when the water washed over her feet, she sighed in sweet joy as a shiver rippled up her body. The water felt amazing.

Jonghyun kept his promise and walked with her along the dryer parts of the sand, keeping up with her pace as she swished around in the shallow waves. She bent down a few times to retrieve seashells and marvel at them, and even picked up a layer of seaweed, rubbing the texture between her fingers in awe. Jonghyun chuckled as he watched her. She looked like such a little kid.

Suddenly, something washed up along Jessica's path; she ran to the item and picked it up, brushing the sand off. Intrigued, she ran towards Jonghyun, making sure she stopped a few feet away from him so he wouldn't get freaked out. He looked at the object in her hands questioningly.

"A message in a bottle?"

Jessica nodded examining it. A little slip of paper was tucked safe and dry inside the old ale bottle with a cork stuck in the top, sealing out the water. She tried to pull the cork out, but it was stuck fast. She quickly wiped it down so it was completely dry before handing it to Jonghyun.

"Can you open it?" she asked. Her curiosity was at an all-time high as she stared at the little piece of parchment. Jonghyun took the bottle and rolled his eyes, popping the cork off with a quick flick of his wrist. He pulled the letter out and handed it to Jessica.

"Never ever stop falling in love…Sunny," she read. A frown etched onto her face as Jonghyun tried to keep his laughter in. Of course Sunny would do something like this; she loved to mess around with humans. She probably made the letter one day while she was bored. It was a very Sunny-like thing to do.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Jessica questioned, flashing the letter at him. The cute, curly cursive writing was definitely Auntie Sunny's.

"It's nonsense," he supplied. Jessica curled the letter back up and sat down, digging the bottle back into the sand. She stared at the rolled paper, lost in thought.

"You know, I heard a rumor once. They say that mermaids throw these out onto land to trick humans into thinking someone was in trouble," she mused. She slipped the letter back into the bottle and stared out at the water.

"Silly Jessica. There's no such thing as mermaids," Jonghyun said, ruffling her hair. _There's no such things as mermaids, but no one ever said anything about sirens_, he thought dryly. Jessica laughed, pulling out of his grasp.

"That's true. I guess it's just an old fish tale," she sighed. She put the cork back in the bottle and threw it back out into the ocean before wiping her hands off on her jeans. She held her hand out to him and he accepted. She pulled him to his feet.

"We should head back. You have to pick up Yuri and Taemin, don't you? Besides, I'll bet Tiffany is waiting for me." She said, starting back towards Jonghyun's beautiful mansion. The curtains had been drawn in the evening light and she couldn't see inside anymore.

"Who's Tiffany?" Jonghyun asked, falling into step besides her.

"Oh, Tiffany is my roommate. She's from the states too; she helps me out a lot," Jessica supplied. She pulled her shoes on and gave a last long look at the ocean.

"Don't worry, I'll bring you back again. I promise," Jonghyun said with a smile. Jessica nodded as he opened the car door for her.

"I'll hold you to that. I love the ocean now," she sighed happily as Jonghyun climbed in and pulled away. They drove back to the school in a comfortable silence; when they finally arrived, Jessica hopped out.

"Thanks a lot for today, Jonghyun. I had a lot of fun," she praised. Jonghyun grinned.

"Any time, milady. If you ever feel the need to cut class, come to me. I will gladly accompany you," he joked back. She rolled her eyes and closed the door, waving to him as she ran to a pretty girl with long black hair. They disappeared around the corner together. Jonghyun sat back and listened to the radio as he waited for his siblings.

The back door opened and Yuri slipped in. She had a frown etched into her face as she glared at Jonghyun in the rear-view mirror. "You cut school today," she accused bitterly. Jonghyun nodded; there was no point in denying it. They pretty much shared all their classes together.

"Sorry, Yul. I needed to get some sleep. Sooyoung's crying has been suffocating me. I just went home and slept all day," he lied. He quickly put on an innocent mask as Yuri scanned his expression. Finding no flaws, she sighed and sat back, folding her arms across her chest.

"Fine. But only because I understand your pain. The only person getting sleep lately is Taemin, and that's only because he can sleep through anything."

Taemin perked up at his name as he opened the door and slid in besides his sister. "What about me?"

"You haven't heard Sooyoung's unstoppable wailing at all, have you?" Jonghyun asked him. If he kept the lie going, then he was sure to be off the hook.

Taemin shook his head. "Sooyoung Noona has been crying? Did Key Hyung do something to her?"

Yuri shared a look with Jonghyun as he pulled out of the parking lot and sped off, finally easing into his usual crazy speeding. "Nah, he's trying to help Sooyoung."

"Hmm." Taemin shrugged. He lost interest almost immediately. "Anyway, are we still up to destroy ShiningCrystal today?"

Jonghyun nodded firmly, pulling into their garage. "Of course."

"Awesome." Taemin quickly climbed out of the car, making a promise to set the system up. Jonghyun and Yuri followed.

"Oh my god, Yuri HELP ME!" Key moaned from the living room. He looked dead to the world as he lay sprawled out on the couch, face-down, burying his face in a pillow. Yuri ran to his side while Jonghyun ignored his younger brother, quickly heading the game system and helping Taemin set up.

"I don't know what to do! I honestly think she just needs a new girl friend, so please, please, _please_, for the life of me, go make Sooyoung happy!" Key cried. Yuri patted his back consolingly before quickly making her way upstairs, stepping into his room. She returned moments later with the blanket bundle that was Sooyoung. Key instantly shot up into a sitting position and offered a bright forced smile. Sooyoung smiled back in return and collapsed into his side, her eyes hollow from crying.

"I know what will make you feel better. Here, this is Umma's controller; do you want to kill a few Americans?" Yuri coaxed, handing the device to Sooyoung. She nodded.

Jonghyun smiled at the girl; Sooyoung was naturally violent. Maybe she would make a good addition to the team. Yuri and Key quickly sat back on the loveseat, resigning themselves to watching as Taemin, Jonghyun, and Sooyoung claimed the couch; it didn't take long for Sooyoung to start shouting dirty insults and strong phrases at the TV, the murderous glint in her eye twinkling. Jonghyun was right; she was a beast.

His phone buzzed in his pocket; he pulled it out and frowned at the text. _Krystal says that she's going to cream you tonight. :P ~Sica_

Jonghyun quickly made his character hide on screen before replying. _We'll see about that. :) ~Jjongie_

_Good Luck! ~Sica_. Came back to him as he pocketed the phone, focusing solely on the game. He knew he could win now, especially because Jessica was cheering for him. He suddenly felt refreshed; Krystal was certainly going down tonight.


	10. Sacrifices

Chapter 10

If there was one thing Yoona learned over the past week, it was that she and Sulli had an intense crush on Lee Taemin.

She didn't realize it much at first; she first noticed how Sulli seemed to brighten at their male friend's presence. How a smile instantly lit up her face, how her pace would quicken, and how her voice would hit an octave higher than normal. Then she started to notice that Sulli would blush at almost everything Taemin did; when he tripped over his toe and stumbled, she blushed. When he bit his lip in class, she blushed. Especially when he smiled at her; she would turn tomato red and turn away with a wide grin.

And then Yoona noticed it in herself.

She'd get jealous seeing Sulli act like that. She felt angry when Taemin smiled at Sulli, not her. She felt the need to stick her tongue out at her best friend whenever she blushed. She would feel the stutter of her heartbeat picking up its pace whenever he looked at her. She could feel little pinpricks and tingles in her hand when he took hers. She could drown in the chocolaty ocean that was his eyes. Even worse, she found herself becoming attracted to his scent; a sweet, oceanic smell of salty sea-air and Lavender. It was heavenly.

Today was no exception as they held his hands and pulled him to class; always in their usual formation, Sulli on the right, Taemin in the middle, Yoona on the left. The two girls clung to him tightly, loving the feel of his hand in theirs; it was hopeless to both of them.

As Taemin sat down and pulled away from the two, he gave them both a look. _You two are acting weird lately._

Sulli shook her head and frowned. "I don't think we are…" she turned to Yoona for confirmation, but her best friend was strangely silent, staring down at her notes. Sulli frowned; did Yoona think they were acting weird? Sulli felt a little weird. Her feelings for Taemin were growing stronger by the day; now, if he just glanced at her, she could feel the butterflies explode in her stomach. She didn't really know if that was good or bad, but for now, she kept her feelings at bay. Maybe later, she would tell Yoona; her best friend would have some advice for her, she was sure.

_Am I too obvious?_Yoona thought worriedly. She tried not to act like a creeper inhaling his scent and staring into his eyes, but she guessed that anyone would naturally be freaked out by that. In that moment, she made a mental note to make her actions more secretive as Taemin slid another note over to her.

_What are you thinking about so intensely? Sulli has been trying to get your attention for five minutes now. _It read. Yoona looked up to her best friend and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Sulli! I zoned out," she whispered. Sulli waved it off.

"Yoona, can you meet me on the roof later? Girl talk," she asked, winking. Yoona knew what that meant; secrets were going to be revealed. She smiled broadly. Their girl talk sessions always brought them closer together.

"Of course. Taemin, you can go to lunch without us," she told him. He rolled his eyes and jotted down a few notes; among them, she picked out the word _gladly._

Yoona giggled behind her hand; Sulli soon joined in. It was telepathic, their movements. Having been friends since diapers did that to them. She knew that whatever Sulli was going to tell her would only bring her closer.

_What are you laughing about? _Taemin wrote curiously. Yoona slid his notebook back to him and shared a look with Sulli.

"Nothing. It's a secret!" they whispered in synchronization. Taemin rolled his eyes.

The class ended as it usually did; with neither Yoona or Sulli paying attention and Taemin trying hard to take notes through their giggling fits. Taemin honestly wondered how they maintained perfect grades with their crappy attention spans. Anyway, once the class ended, the twins took his hands and pulled him out; Sulli walked the two of them to their next class before running off. Yoona didn't let go of him as she pulled him into the classroom and sat him down next to her.

Yoona loved Physics. It was the one class that she had alone with Taemin; and spending alone time with him suddenly had a deep meaning. She was spending time alone with her crush.

Of course, the downside to spending time away from Sulli was that she could never find anything to talk about. Taemin was a bit of a dull person in comparison to Sulli's bubbly charisma, so she could never properly come up with a good topic of interest. The best she could do was talk about the weather or something, which was extremely lame.

Luckily, Taemin always started conversations first; he didn't like seeing Yoona struggle to find the right words to say. _Do you have your book? I forgot mine._

Yoona smiled brightly. "Sure. We can share!"

_Thanks, Yoonie._

That was another thing she loved about being alone with Taemin; he'd use a special nickname he created for her. He'd never use it around Sulli, for reasons she didn't really know, and he'd only write it to her in private; sometimes, the nickname came with a wink. It made her feel special; lie they had a secret to themselves.

Taemin couldn't really describe it either. He liked Yoona's company more than Sulli's. Yoona just seemed to fit in with him; despite being a beautiful, popular girl, when she was alone, she was shy. She was quiet and studious when alone, compared to Sulli's talkative activeness. He just felt more comfortable in silence with Yoona. She respected his need for peace and quiet.

"You're very welcome, Taeminnie," she told him sweetly, smiling. Taemin smiled back as he peered into the book, jotting down a few notes.

They focused for a little while; even Yoona decided that a few notes wouldn't hurt her, even if she had a photographic memory. She just didn't want to feel awkward sitting next to Taemin, staring off into space, looking for a good conversation starter. She was all for paying attention in class when Taemin suddenly closed the book. She looked at him questioningly.

He had a frown on his face. _We learned this stuff last week._ He wrote. Yoona looked down at her notes – which she had been taking without really understanding what it was she was writing – and knew that he was right; the formulas all looked familiar.

"Well, then what the heck? I wasted a perfectly good sheet of paper," Yoona sighed, stuffing her notebook back into her bag.

_I waste paper every single day trying to talk to you, _Taemin pointed out. Yoona waved the comment off.

"That's not wasting, it's for good cause," she mumbled, smiling at him. He rolled his eyes.

_Whatever, Yoonie. Do you want to head out early? We can just go to the roof_, he wrote back.

Yoona nodded; the roof would have certainly been better than hanging out in the classroom and falling asleep. "Sure. I'll tell Sulli to meet us." She said as she packed her things. The two quietly made their way out and stretched in the hallway. Taemin brought his phone out.

_You don't have to bother Sulli. If Key Hyung has been telling me the truth, she actually pays attention in class if we're not there_, he typed out. Yoona laughed as they started ascending the stairs.

"But Sulli has a photographic memory like I do! We just take snapshots of the page with our mind. It's like a superpower," she bragged. Taemin punched her shoulder playfully.

_Paying attention in class never hurt anyone, photographic memory or not_, he typed. Yoona rolled her eyes as they pushed the door to the roof open. They were greeted with the salty-sea air that tasted wonderful in the afternoon and a bright, blazing sun. Taemin went straight for the fence and stared out at the ocean, watching the little surfers get thrown around in the rough waves. Yoona came up behind him.

"Hey, you live by the beach, right?" she asked. Taemin nodded. "What's the story behind the lighthouse?"

Taemin followed Yoona's pointed finger to a tall white tower surrounded by tall grass leaves standing at the top of a tall cliff just off to the right of their beach house. Taemin loved the lighthouse; it may have been at least a twenty minute walk through itchy, scratching grass blades, but being in the abandoned building soothed him. No one came to it because of the apparent haunting. But Taemin had been going there for years, and nothing strange had happened to him.

_They say a girl got pushed off of the top and fell into the water. They never recovered a body_, Taemin wrote to her. Yoona shivered.

Taemin noticed her reaction and quickly typed out another message. _But I go there all the time; there's nothing. It's actually a really cool place to be. I love the lighthouse._

Yoona smiled despite the creepy vibes she was getting from his story. The look on Taemin's face was nostalgic as he stared at the tower, a small smile alight on his face. He must have gone their often when he was sad or angry. Yoona knew how he felt; whenever she was frustrated, she went to the park across the street from her apartment. The calm surrounding would always cool her off and make her smile; maybe the lighthouse was like the park for Taemin.

"You should take me there sometime. I want to see it," she said, leaning against the fence. Taemin turned to her and offered an eye smile.

_Sure. Maybe this weekend. Jonghyun Hyung has been saying something about a beach party_, he wrote. Yoona brightened.

"A party? Oh my god, if you have one for real, you have to invite me and Sulli!" she gushed, snatching his hand and squeezing it. He chuckled.

_Of course I will_.

"Hey Yoona, I got your text –"

Sulli stopped short in the doorway, staring at her two friends questioningly. What was Taemin doing up here? Why was Yoona holding his hand? why were they smiling at each other so brightly? She felt jealously burn in her chest at the sight but pushed it away when Yoona ran up to her, looking excited.

"Sulli, Taemin said that Jonghyun is going to throw a party on Saturday, and that we're invited!" she gushed. Sulli instantly smiled at the thought; a party? She was there.

"That's awesome! I've always wanted to see Taemin's house," she said, sticking her tongue out at the boy in question. Taemin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

_Sorry,_he wrote sarcastically. Sulli waved it away.

"Anyway, Yoona and I have some things to talk about. Go, go away!" she cooed, pushing Taemin towards the door. He rolled his eyes but went dutifully, sending them both a text as the door closed behind him. _See you at lunch._

The girls waved before turning to each other. Sulli took Yoona's hands; they stared at each other and smiled. "Sulli, I have a confession too."

Sulli nodded; it worked with her. They always did this when one of them was telling a secret to the other. They got really close, held hands, then told each other. Then the other person would smile and offer her advice. If they both had a confession, they would tell each other together at the same time and pick the confession that sounded more troublesome to tackle before addressing the other. It was a part of the best friend code.

She leaned away from her best friend with a wide grin. "Then on the count of three?"

Yoona nodded, biting her lip. She couldn't believe she was revealing her secret, but she thought that Sulli ought to know. "One…"

Sulli smiled widely. "Two…"

Three didn't come; they just both took a deep breath, and in one long sentence, murmured to each other in perfect synchronization. "I have a crush on Taemin."

It suddenly became awkwardly silent between the two as their smiles dropped. In all their life, they never confessed to the same thing; ever. Sulli pulled her hands out of Yoona grasp and took a step away, measuring her best friend's expression. Yoona did the same. Another moment of silence passed as they stood there, disbelief running through their minds.

"…What?" Sulli breathed. Yoona frowned.

"I…I have a crush…" she started, a little dazed.

"On Taemin," Sulli finished. They stared at each other again before Yoona coughed.

"Well this is awkward," she mumbled, sitting down on one of the reclining chairs. Sulli sat on the one next to her, staring out in space. "So…what do we do?"

"We really are best friends, aren't we? We even like the same people," Sulli joked, eliminating a little bit of the tension. Yoona smiled slightly.

"Practically sisters. Maybe we were separated at birth."

Sulli smiled dryly. "Maybe."

Another awkward silence enveloped them; suddenly, it became very hard to look each other in the eye. They couldn't think of anything to say. They both had a crush on Taemin. They just became rivals in love. Yoona coughed to herself again.

"Well, since we're best friends, let's just forget about this whole thing, huh?" she suggested. She picked herself up off the chair and took a few happy steps towards the door.

"No, Yoona. You're my best friend… and that's why I can't let him go."

Yoona stood there, frozen in her tracks as she stared after Sulli's retreating body. She didn't turn around as she slowly slipped through the red door and disappeared.

* * *

Taemin was distraught; he didn't know what to do with himself anymore.

He couldn't help but glance back and forth between Sulli and Yoona, sitting grumpily on either side of the cafeteria; whatever girl talk they had on the roof obviously left them in a huge argument. He didn't know what to do, either; he had never experienced a YoonSul squabble, so all he could do was sit and stare at both of them.

"Why don't you just go talk to them?" Yuri asked soothingly as she pushed her leftover food to Sooyoung, who finally gathered enough courage to come to school. She grabbed the tray greedily.

Taemin sent Yuri a look. _I can't. I feel like if I go to one, the other will get mad at me_.

Sooyoung shrugged her shoulders and fed a bite of rice to Key, who lay lifelessly on the table besides her. He accepted the food gratefully before closing his eyes, hoping to get some much needed sleep. "Then don't. let them work it out; whatever they're fighting about doesn't include you, so I don't think you need to push in."

Taemin frowned and sent another fleeting look at Yoona, who was pouting at the book she was trying to read. He quickly switched his glance across the room to Sulli, who was shoveling lettuce into her mouth angrily. He glanced back down at his food and sighed, pushing it towards Sooyoung. She accepted it wholeheartedly.

"Come on, Taemin, perk up; it'll all be over in a little while, knowing those two," Jonghyun cheered. Taemin shrugged and leaned his chin on the table.

"I'm sure Yoona and Sulli will be friends again within the next period," Jessica added, trying to back Jonghyun up. Yuri nodded enthusiastically and Sooyoung grunted.

Taemin sighed again before sending another glance at the two; he'd just have to trust his friend's judgment and hope the mysterious battle was over soon. He felt weird sitting alone with his siblings, and he didn't like the feeling.

When lunch was over, he walked to class – _alone_. He felt somewhat vulnerable, and his hands were empty for once instead of filled with the warm hold of his two best friends. His hands curled into fists at his side as he marched to his next class, feeling awkward. Who would have guessed that Taemin actually _missed_ their annoying company? It was_too_ silent for him. There was no meaningless chatter passing back and forth by his sides. There was no need to block anything out, which made him strangely aware of his surroundings. There was also a sudden coldness. He already missed the warmth of their hands in his.

He slipped into Japanese and went to his usual table. He glanced around and sighed, a bit distracted; Yoona and Sulli still weren't present. He sent a somewhat cheerful wave to the professor and pulled his notes out. He still couldn't fight the awkward feeling.

Five minutes into the class, Sulli marched in; she instantly brightened at seeing him and skipped up to his seat, offering a bright smile like nothing was wrong.

"Hey, Taeminnie," she cooed. Taemin leaned back, slightly creeped out. Sulli never used that kind of voice. Ever.

_Hi, I guess. What's going on between you and Yoona?_He wrote down. Sulli's smile wavered before she forced a laugh and waved her hand in the air.

"What do you mean? There's nothing going on," she lied. Taemin frowned and narrowed his eyes.

Then why didn't you sit with me at lunch? He wrote down suspiciously. Sulli shrugged, her smile fading away as she started to walk away. Halfway towards her seat, she turned back around and winked at him.

"I just wanted a new change of scenery, that's all," she said, waving as she plopped down next to Tiffany in the front row. Taemin frowned deeper; what was that supposed to mean?

He grew even more suspicious when Yoona stepped in, holding her head high as she wordlessly passed by Sulli and sat down next to him. Unlike Sulli, she didn't offer any greeting, or even acknowledge his presence. She simply pulled a notebook and pen out and stared – more like _glared_ – down at the professor, completely focused. Taemin tried to get her attention by poking her shoulder, but she refused to offer a response; after the twenty-seventh poke, he gave up and leaned forward in his seat, twirling his pen in his fingers as he tried to figure out what set them off.

For some reason, Yoona's avoidance bothered him. He liked talking to Yoona because she always knew just what to say; he figured that he could worm the truth out of her, but she didn't seem like she wanted to budge. He wasn't used to such cold treatment. After another five minutes of pen twirling, he wrote her a note and slid it in front of her.

_What's wrong, Yoonie?_

Yoona frowned at the note. She wanted to avoid talking to Taemin at all costs because she honestly didn't want to get him involved, even though he was the whole reason behind their stupid battle. She wanted so badly to answer him, to write him everything, but she refrained herself; this was hers and Sulli's problem. He didn't need to be dragged in.

She pushed his notebook back to him and shook her head, offering a small smile. Taemin's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. What was going on between the two? First Sulli and her sweet talk, and now Yoona and her determination to ignore him. What did he have to do to get an answer out of them? Speak?

The class ended after what seemed like ages; Taemin finally stretched up, ready to interrogate Yoona, but she had already packed her bags and was halfway out the door. Since Sulli seemed busy helping Tiffany with a difficult word, he chased after her, slipping through the crowd and picking out Yoona's raven colored hair pushing through the crowds. He slithered on after her, sliding in between students switching to their next classes with ease and soon managed to catch up to her moments before she opened the doors to the garden.

He opened his mouth to speak and suddenly closed it, remembering who he was with; instead, he grabbed her elbow and pulled her to a bench, pulling his phone out of his pocket as she pushed her down. She sat down with a pout, glancing out at the flowers.

_Why are you ignoring me?_He typed out, showing her the screen.

"I'm not ignoring you," she mumbled pathetically. Taemin rolled his eyes.

_Then what's going on between you and Sulli? I think I have the right to know_. He typed out. Yoona bit her lip and shook her head.

"Taemin, how do you see Sulli? What is she to you?" she asked instead. If she could try and get Taemin to figure out why they were fighting indirectly, then she wouldn't be at fault. She could hint it all she wanted.

Taemin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. _I see Sulli as a friend. Maybe a best friend. Why?_

"What am _I_ to you?"

Taemin was ready to show her the same message, but his hand stopped short; how did he see Yoona? He liked it more when they were alone together, and he preferred Yoona's company over Sulli's. He always thought that Yoona was remarkably prettier, smarter, and more witty than Sulli. He liked the way she smiled, like a ray of sunshine, and loved it when she laughed. But Yoona was a friend…right? Yeah…just a friend. Or was she? Taemin didn't know.

As he stood in front of her, lost in deep thought, Yoona stood up. She gave Taemin a long, meaningful look, trying to tell him her feelings through her gaze; he only sent a confused glance back. She shook her head sadly. She'd have to keep away from Taemin for a while; at least until she settled this battle. She left Taemin there, standing dumbly in front of a bench, stuck in the middle of a question avalanche. He couldn't help but think that by pulling Yoona aside, he only came out with more questions than answers.

* * *

"I don't know what to do!" Taemin wailed as soon as he got home. He collapsed on the couch and burrowed his face into a pillow, screaming out in frustration.

"What's got his boxers in a bunch?" Taeyeon asked the remainder of her children as they trudged in after him, looking confused. Key sat next to his baby brother, patting his back affectionately.

"Yoona and Sulli got in a fight today," he supplied. Taeyeon nodded in understanding and decided to just continue business as usual. Jonghyun sat down in their Appa's reclining chair and turned the TV on, completely ignoring his younger siblings. Yuri gave Taemin a sympathetic look before climbing upstairs to finish up homework.

"Key Hyung, what can I do? I asked Yoona what they were fighting about and she blew me off. She never blows me off! She always tells me," Taemin whined pathetically, sitting up and hugging the couch pillow to his chest. He blankly stared at the TV screen, which was flipping from channel to channel at rapid speeds.

"I can't tell you the answer to that, Tae-baby. Just let them work things out; I'm sure everything will be back to normal soon."

Taemin couldn't help but think that Key was painfully wrong; call it a gut feeling, but he just didn't feel well. The weather seemed to reflect his mood; dark clouds accumulated over the ocean, and the waves were starting to crash along the shore harder and harder. He stared out the floor-to-ceiling length window of the living room worriedly. He just couldn't help but think that everything was a bad omen.

He could only hope that Key was right.

* * *

Sorry it's a short chapter. I didn't really want to drag Yoona and Sulli's fight out, especially since it's going to continue on in the next two chapters. Anyway, the next chapter is a JongSica MinYul special since I feel like they aren't recieving enough love in this story. :P 


End file.
